The World Ain't Right
by SarCuppCake
Summary: A reimagining of Kindred Spirits. What would have happened if Clara Peletier and Daryl Dixon would have met before the world went to shit. What would that have changed? How would Ed handled having to watch as his oldest daughter became involved with the redneck hunter? Daryl/OC and Merle/OC.
1. Chapter 1: The Reason

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier. **

**Author's Note: You all said you wanted it so here goes. **

I got the idea for this story while reading back over Kindred Spirits. In Chapter 17: Aftermath, Daryl makes the statement that he wondered what would have happened had he and Clara met before the world went to shit. It really got me thinking about how everything would have been different if they would have met before. I'm probably the only person who has wrote a fan fiction based on another fan fiction they wrote. Some of this is because I really do love the relationship that Clara and Daryl have on top of that I think that we can all agree that Daryl really does deserve to punish Ed for the things he did to Clara. While this story will share similar themes as Kindred Spirits, such as Clara's abused background with her father, it will in fact be an entirely different story. I do however have to change some time lines around a bit to make this story fall together correctly so please bear with me.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

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**Chapter 1: The Reason**

Clara Peletier had vowed never to step foot in her father's home ever again. It was a vow that she'd taken to heart all through the last semester of school. It was something that her mother and sister hadn't been able to understand after all, they had no idea why she had these sentiments. Her reasoning had nothing to do with them but more along the lines of the fact that her father was nothing but an abusive prick bastard. But as the last few weeks of school drew closer and closer she started to realize something. She had to go back to her parent's house for one reason and one reason only: Sophia. Or rather the knowledge of what her father would do to Sophia if she wasn't there to keep it from happening. After all while she was home at Christmas her baby sister had confided in her, told her that her father had started watching her while she undressed. The thought made Clara sick to her stomach; she knew that she had to protect Sophia from that bastard. It was because of that reason and that reason alone that she found herself pulling up in front of the aging red brick two story house.

Clara took a deep breath as she cut the engine to her navy blue Jeep Liberty. She set there for a few seconds just staring at the house her hands still on the steering wheel. It would be simple just to put the car into reverse and back away. Hell she still had a standing invitation to her best friend Marissa's house or even to Sadie her roommate's house. She'd turned both of them down, stating that since going away to college she hadn't been able spend as much time with her baby sister. She knew that they knew she was lying but was grateful that they had never called her on it. Just thinking about speaking of the Atrocities Ed Peletier had committed made her ill. She just couldn't let them know what he did it was far to humiliating and she was honestly afraid that they would never be able to look at her the same again. She couldn't handle their pitiful looks. They didn't ask, she didn't tell and things were better this way, better for all involved.

Knowing that this would be easier if she just got it over with, she pulled her keys from the ignition and opened the door. 'Might as well just rip the bandaid off Clara,' she thought to herself, 'Get it over with, it won't hurt as bad.' Besides it's not like she could leave now, Sophia had already saw her and was running out on the porch to meet her. "Clara what took so long?" Sophia asked as she hugged her big sister tightly.

"Traffic was a bitch." Clara said causing her little sister to giggle.

"Don't worry I won't tell mom and dad you said a bad word." Sophia gave her sister a mischievous grin. "Any way he's at work, Mom's sleeping she has to work tonight but she said that you could take me to the pool." She said hopefully. "Mrs. O'Neil has men working on her house, Daddy doesn't like them he says that they're riff raff. He said he doesn't like the way they look."

It was all Clara could do to keep from saying that she didn't like the way their dad looked either but she wasn't bitching, but she managed to refrain. "Help me get my suitcases in the house and we'll get changed and go to the pool." Clara said.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank You!" Sophia squealed in delight before running to the back of the Jeep and opening the hatch and started grabbing her sister's things.

Daryl Dixon was on the roof of the house next door he and his brother Merle's construction team was in the process of doing a re-mod on the aging Victorian home. To be honest he was pretty sure that the elderly woman would be doing much better if she were to just tear the damn thing down and have it rebuilt but he didn't say that to her. Construction work was lean in the winter and then when you throw a little recession into the mix and it was their best winter ever. Who was he to tell a rich old lady what she should do with her money. It was some of the reason his brother was having to supplement their funds with other unsavory, illegal persuits. A man had to provide for himself and he had to do what he had to do. While Daryl himself had never been comfortable with the under handed drug deals that his brother was known for that didn't mean he didn't appreciate the income that it brought in.

He was in the middle of his second cigarette when the navy Jeep pulled into the drive way just below where he was sitting. His first thought was that it was just Peletier; the man had been a pain in his ass since his crew started working on the house. As if he'd try anything with the man's wife. While she might have been a beauty in years gone by it was clear that the bastard had done a number on the woman. That was clear by the way she averted her gaze when coming and going from her home. What actually got out of the car was a hell of a surprise; the girl was probably in her early twenties if that. She had a mass of long blond hair which hung down her back and over her shoulders in a riot of curls. It was clear that she'd been lucky as far as genetics went; she looked nothing like her father. Of course to say that she was the spitting image of her mother was another stretch. She did share some of the woman's characteristics like her tall willowy frame and delicate features. She was dressed in a pair of dark wash jeans that hugged every curve of her slight body that were tucked into brown cowgirl boots and a teal thread bare tunic length tank top. She looked fucking amazing in it too. "What you lookin' at baby brother?" Merle asked joining his brother on the roof and snapping Daryl from his thoughts.

"Nothin'." Daryl said a little too quickly. This wasn't grade school, it wasn't like it was a crime for him to find a female attractive. The problem was that Merle had a way of making him regret that he shared anything with him. Anytime he confided attraction in the opposite sex to his brother, Merle found away to fuck that up for him. Like that time Daryl was dating Lisa Bennett and Merle ended up fucking her. He couldn't fault Merle for it, after all Merle was blood.

Merle raised an eyebrow at his brother then looked down in the drive way where Daryl had been staring. "Well I'll be damned." Merle said, "That is a hell of a piece of ass baby brother. You gonna get you some of that?"

Daryl's brow wrinkled, "Fuck Merle, is that all you think about?"

"Well one of us Dixon brothers has to be a stud; I'm starting to wonder if you've gone queer." Merle said.

Daryl closed his eyes and counted to ten, "I'm not a fucking queer." He said.

"If you don't get between that pretty little thing's legs before we get done with this job you sure as shit are." Merle said. "Hell if you don't nail her I will."

Daryl couldn't explain the feral rage that pooled in his belly. Never before had his brother pissed him off this badly, hell it wasn't the first time Merle had called him queer or brought into question his manhood, and knowing his brother it wouldn't be the last. What had him fuming mad was the idea of his brother touching that girl. Hell he didn't even know her name. "Over my dead body." Daryl growled grounding his cigarette on the plywood roof before flicking the butt off into Mrs. O'Neil's flower bed.

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AN: So that was chapter one, let me know what you all think and if you think it should be continued.


	2. Chapter 2: Song Bird

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note: **Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it. To answer the question about the zombies yes they will be coming. Going by how much time passes in the first two seasons I'm putting this story beginning about Mid-May and having the outbreak going wide spread in late June. When I first considered doing this story I thought about making it completely AU but as it started developing in my mind it made me wonder how much could have changed had Daryl and Clara met preseason one. I had originally said that it would be slightly AU as far as how much it would follow cannon but the more ideas are coming to me the more I'm thinking that might not necessarily be so. There are going to be a whole lot of 'what ifs' in this story.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

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**Chapter 2: Song Bird**

Daryl was loading his tools in the back of his truck when the navy Jeep pulled up in front of the neighbor's house. He bit back a groan when the girl from earlier that day jumped out dressed in a pair of cut off shorts and a white button up shirt. It was clear that her bathing suit had been wet when she put the top on because it was now very sheer revealing the red and white polka dot bikini top she wore under it. He wasn't sure what it was about the female that had him transfixed, in fact she was generally the type of girl he tried to steer away from. She was the type of a woman a man kept and there was no part of his life that was right for someone like her. He'd seen enough Dr. Phil to know that victims of abuse were more prone to become abusers themselves. He already had a quick temper the last thing he wanted to do was to become his father. No, it was better that he avoid women like her, women like her wanted things. They wanted marriage and houses and dogs, they'd bitch when he cleaned his game in the kitchen and wear muddy boots in the house. He liked his life just the way it was thank you very much.

Clara could help but feel like, for the second time that day she was being watched. Over the years it was a sense she'd picked up on very easily, after all Ed had a thing for watching her from the picture window in the living room, but he wasn't there. Slowly she looked over her shoulder towards Mrs. O'Neil's house it was then that she saw the man loading tools onto his truck. The look on his face as he watched her was intense as if he was deep in thought. It was the way Ed often looked at her, the difference was that she didn't get the feeling of revulsion when this stranger looked at her the way Ed did. In fact she gave him a smile and a wave before heading into the house.

Carol was getting ready for work when her daughters arrived back home from the pool. She'd never been more pleased to see Clara than she was in that moment. She knew that something had gone on between her husband and her oldest daughter when Clara had been home over Christmas. It was something that caused Clara to spend her spring break at Carol's sister Karen's house. It was still a sore spot between Carol and Karen even though it wasn't Karen's fault. "Now how many times have I told you to wear sunscreen?" Carol asked as she hugged Clara tightly.

Clara wrinkled her nose, the light sunburn that stretched across it tingled. "Oh come on mama you know that I can saturate myself every ten minutes in SPF 1 million and it would do no good."

Carol sighed, "You got your mama's curse like that. Cursed only to burn never to tan."

"Eh tanning is over rated. Besides I'm okay with not getting skin cancer." Clara shrugged. "Sophia met her friend Katie at the pool she's staying the night there tonight I didn't figure you'd mind."

"No that's fine, she didn't give you any trouble did she?" Carol asked.

"Does she ever?"

"I just like to be sure I know that you're not used to having your sister underfoot all the time." Carol explained.

"Trust me, I don't mind. Besides I don't get to spend enough time with her." Clara looked out the picture window where the man who'd been watching her earlier was climbing into his truck. "So what's the deal with them? Sophia said E-dad wasn't happy about them being here."

Carol rolled her eyes, "You know how your father can be, they're a little rough around the edges and your father gets bent out of shape easy. They're trying to put that old house back together for Mrs. O'Neil. They didn't give you any trouble did they?"

"No, Sophia told me about them when I first got back. Said something about Dad not being happy they were here is all I just wondered." Clara turned back to her mother.

"Just don't mention them to your father." Carol said.

"When should I expect him?" Clara asked.

"Not until late, he's watching the game at Mickey's after work. Has money on it or something who knows. I put a casserole in the oven for you and Sophia it should be done at six. Don't order pizza." Carol said. "I'm sure you ate enough of that while you were living at the dorm you need some good home cooking."

"Yeah yeah." Clara couldn't help but smile as her. "Don't worry sheriff I'll hold down the fort while you're gone." She gave her mother a salute.

"Smartass." Carol smiled before grabbing her purse and walking out of the house.

Once she was sure her mother was gone, Clara went up to her room and found her guitar which was carefully tucked into the back of her closet. She could never do this when her parents were around because her father looked down at her having anything to do with music. It was one of the reasons she was a history major rather than the music major she wanted to be. She went out on the back porch and set down on the steps before putting the guitar across her lap and started the opening notes to a sad song.

"_Wish I was too dead to cry,_

"_My self-affliction fades,_

"_Stones to throw at my creator,_

"_Masochists to which I cater,_

"_You don't need to bother;_

"_I don't need to be,_

"_I'll keep slipping farther,_

"_But once I hold on,_

"_I won't let go 'til it bleeds,_

"_Wish I was too dead to care,_

"_If indeed I cared at all,_

"_Never had a voice to protest,_

"_So you fed me shit to digest_

"_I wish I had a reason;_

"_my flaws are open season,_

"_For this, I gave up trying,_

"_One good turn deserves my dying,_

"_You don't need to bother;_

"_I don't need to be,_

"_I'll keep slipping farther,_

"_But once I hold on,_

"_I won't let go 'til it bleeds,_

"_Wish I'd died instead of lived,_

"_A zombie hides my face,_

"_Shell forgotten,_

"_with its memories,_

"_Diaries left with cryptic entrie,_

"_And you don't need to bother;_

"_I don't need to be,_

"_I'll keep slipping farther,_

"_But once I hold on,_

"_I won't let go 'til it bleeds,_

"_You don't need to bother;_

"_I don't need to be,_

"_I'll keep slipping farther,_

"_But once I hold on:_

"_I'll never live down my deceit."_

Daryl was cursing his brother as he made his way around the back of the old lady's house. He'd almost been home when he got the call from Merle letting him know that he'd forgotten to lock up the old lady's shed where they were storing their big equipment at. Of course Merle couldn't do it because he was at Mickey's Bar one and a half sheets into the wind and looking for that other sheet and a half. It was times like this that he truly loathed his brother. It was as he was going across the yard that he heard the haunting melody being played on the guitar. His first thought was that Mrs. O'Neil was listening to her record player again. He clearly dismissed that thought when he saw over the fence, that girl sitting on the steps playing the guitar. It was something he hadn't expected from her and the sorrow and conviction in what she was singing made him ache for her in a way he hadn't felt since he'd been a child. There was something about the way she sang the song that made him feel that she meant ever lyric she sang. There was this strange foreign part of him that wanted nothing more than to protect her, to kill whoever or whatever had hurt her so badly.

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AN: The song Clara sang is Bother by Stone Sour. I just found a little irony in the lyrics. I know there hasn't been any Clara and Daryl interaction yet but next chapter should rectify that.


	3. Chapter 3: What's Good For You

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note**: Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it. **To GatorGirl99:** I see Daryl as that person who thinks his life is so fucked up that he doesn't deserve to be happy. So he comes up with all these reasons why he can't be in a relationship and fills that deep down loneliness with other things like being a badass hunter for instance. **To FanFicGirl10:** Well yeah Daryl and Clara being all cuddly and lovey is definitely a given. You know until you said it I never thought of Merle's challenge about sleeping with Clara as a bet and I don' think that Daryl did either but I can see him (Merle) being a douche bag about it if Daryl ever pisses him off. It's given me something to think about it. The song that Clara sang in the last chapter is one of my favorites. It's pretty dark but at the same time I think that there is some darkness in Clara after everything she's been through. When I was listening to it I was like there really is some irony in the lyrics, especially the third verse.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

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**Chapter 3: What's Good for You**

It was around five when Marissa's white Prius pulled up in front of the Peletier house, on Friday night. She didn't bother getting out and knocking on the door, Ed Peletier had made it clear many years ago how he felt about her friendship with his daughter. Marissa didn't bother honking the horn unsteady she sent Clara a text message; she looked back towards the house and smirked when she saw Ed at the picture window. If looks could kill she knew she'd be dead. Instead of giving him the finger as she longed to do she gave him a big smile and a small wave. Once she got the message from Marissa letting her know she was there she quickly grabbed her purse and bolted for the door. Given the chance she knew that Ed would do everything in his power to ruin her night. In the past he'd done it multiple times. Knowing that if she dwelt on Ed any longer it worked ruin her evening she pushed from her mind. Tonight shed done her job, she deserved to have a little break. Sophia would be at her friend Emily's for the weekend and Carol would be working all night. "Oh my God I love your dress!" Marissa exclaimed the moment Clara climbed into the car.

Clara couldn't help but smile as she smoothed the skirt of her pale pinkish coral dress. "It's the one that I got on sale the last time we went to the mall in Williams."

"Yeah well it looks amazing. I swear if I could pull that color off with my red hair I'd probably fight you over it." Marissa said backing out of the driveway. "So he's not gonna give you shit later is her?"

Clara shook her head, "Nah he's really been pretty mellow since I got home."

Marissa studied Clara for a few seconds; the two had known each other long enough that she could tell when her friend was lying. Still she didn't push her; she wanted to believe that one day Clara would open up to her about what really went on under the Peletier roof. "That's good."

"So where are we going?" Clara asked. Changing the subject was Clara's way of letting Marissa know that she didn't want to talk anymore about her father. She was grateful for the fact that her best friend knew her well enough to stop.

"Well it depends on how adventurous you're feeling." Marissa said with a mischievous smile.

Clara groaned. "The last time you said that we played mini-golf and I maimed Kevin. And you know he still hasn't forgiven or forgotten."

"Don't worry. No mini golf, promise." Marissa promised. "You know I think I know just the place."

Half an hour later they were parked in front of O'Callaghan's Pub. Unlike Mickey's Bar where Ed liked to frequent this place was a little more low key and was more less likely to be shut down for salmonella outbreaks. Not to mention the fact that they would never risk running into Ed there. Back when he was barely out of diapers he'd made the mistake of pissing the owner off. Since then he could no more than step foot in the door without physically being thrown out. Of course if you asked Ed he'd say that he thought the pub used skunk beer and watered their liquor down. Needless to say he was still bitter over everything that had happened.

"I thought we could have some wings play a little pool." Marissa smiled.

"I am so not dressed for this." Clara laughed.

"Well you know maybe you'll meet a man." She drug Clara from the car.

Clara rolled her eyes, "I know plenty of men."

Marissa gave Clara the puppy dog eyes and poked her bottom lip out, "Please?"

Clara sighed, "Fine."

Marissa squealed with excitement, "Yay!"

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Daryl was sitting in one of the back tables nursing a beer. It had been his Friday night ritual probably since he was able to legally drink. It was one of those small things that separated him from his brother. Merle had always preferred the rowdier crowds, bars that got shut down for the brawling. He couldn't count how many times he got calls at four in the morning to pick Merle up from the drunk tank. Daryl was a little more on the simple side, he liked his job. He liked anything really that kept his hands busy, he wasn't much on people he knew that they thought he and Merle were nothing but white trash and he accepted that. Just as long as they didn't get in his face he was good. He liked a nice cold brew and when the occasion called for it some whiskey. On the weekends he spent most of his time roaming the woods hunting. His life was uncomplicated and he liked it that way. He was getting ready to leave when the bell at the door rang and two women walked in. He almost swallowed his tongue when he saw the blond that lived next to Mrs. O'Neil. He hadn't given her much thought since the night he heard her singing. Or at least he liked to believe he hadn't given her all that much thought. When he saw her wearing things like she was right now, the pale sundress that hugged her curves and showed off her long legs, well it made him think all kinds of things. What surprised the hell out of him though was when she gave him a smile and waved at him. He wasn't sure what think most women like her would pretend that she had no idea who he was. Without a second thought he nodded to her before taking another drink of his beer.

Marissa noticed the exchange between Clara and the guy at the corner table. With as long as she's known Clara she'd never seen her light up the way she did just then. "Who's that?" She asked.

Clara shrugged, "He's someone Dixon, he and his brother are doing the work on our neighbors house is all.."

Marissa gave her a skeptical look. "Uh...huh."

Clara sighed as they found a table. "Are we really gonna do this? He's just some guy that I'm sort of acquainted with."

Marissa shook her head, "no my darling Best Friend Forever, that is a man. You've only been acquainted before now with boys, over grown man-children, and assholes."

Clara couldn't help but laugh, "You do realize that your insane right?"

"No my dear you are the insane one. He's obviously interested in you. He keeps watching you." Marissa said. "You should go talk to him."

Clara looked over her shoulder at him her bright blue eyes meeting his stormy pale ones. Her cheeks turned pink as she turned back to Marissa. "What would I say to him?"

"Well you could start with 'hi'." She suggested. "Maybe ask him to play a round of pool or darts."

Clara cringed at both thought, she was a nightmare at hand-eye coordination. "Very...very bad idea."

Marissa narrowed her eyes at Clara, "if you don't go talk to him I will."

Clara sighed, "Fine."

Slowly she stood up smoothing the skirt of her dress before making the long walk across the bar. When she saw the sign for the ladies room and almost took it as a way out of talking to him. Still she knew if she did Marissa would never let her forget it. Taking a deep breath she stopped in front of his table. "You know, those things are bad for you." She said lamely nodding to the lit cigarette in his hand.

Daryl looked up at the woman, when he first saw her walking towards him, he thought for sure she was on her way to the bathroom. "Yeah well talking to me is worse so why don't you go on about your business."

She was surprised by his statement and at the same time she recognized something in him that she shared, an underlying sadness that none of her friends truly understood. "Is that supposed to frighten me?" Clara asked as she set down across from him not waiting for an invitation.

"If you were smart it would." Daryl said. He knew if the girl's dad was to ever see her with him he'd shit kittens. The morning after she got home, old Ed hot footed over to Mrs. O'Neil's house and made sure under no certain circumstances were they to even look at his precious daughter. He knew from the moment he'd laid eyes on Ed Peletier that he a great bullying asshole.

Clara shrugged, "Well I guess that makes me an idiot then." She flashed him a smile. "I'm Clara Peletier." She held her hand out.

Daryl studied her for a few seconds before accepting the hand shake. "Daryl Dixon."


	4. Chapter 4: Pool Hall Blues

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it. Alright so you all are amped about Daryl teaching Clara to play pool so I figure I'll give the readers what they want.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

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**Chapter 4: Pool Hall Blues**

Clara knew she should feel like an utter bitch for abandoning Marissa after all it was supposed to be girl's night and all. There was something about Daryl that she found intriguing, maybe it was that beneath that gruff exterior that he presented to the world was something nicer. Of course one did have to be willing to get past the gruffness. After their initial introduction they set in silence for a few minutes, it wasn't one of those uncomfortable silences either. "You know your dad is gonna shit a brick if he ever finds out about this right?" Daryl asked breaking the silence.

Clara nodded, "Probably…It really doesn't take much to make Ed shit bricks."

Daryl nodded, "Figured as much. Seems like an asshole your old man."

Clara nodded, "Yeah…no offense but I really don't want to talk about Ed."

Daryl smirked, "What do you want to talk about?"

"I'm not sure…I've never picked a guy up in a bar." She said.

Daryl couldn't help but laugh at her honesty, "Is that what this is?"

"Not entirely sure but it seems like the most logical conclusion." Clara said with a shrug.

"Why don't I buy you a drink and we can play pool?" Daryl shrugged.

Clara frowned, she had a vision of the last time she played pool in her head. In fact the whole thing had been such a fiasco that she wasn't allowed to play pool in the rec hall at her school ever again. "I'm not sure that's a good idea." She said.

Daryl raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

She could feel heat flooding her face, "It's just that…I have very little hand eye coordination."

"That's all?" he asked.

"It's so bad that I might have caused the cue ball across the room and it broke the nose of our champion swimmer." She said.

Daryl busted out laughing; it was as sound that was foreign to him after all Dixons don't have much of a sense of humor. Or at least they pretended that they didn't, according to _Merle Dixon's Rules of Being a Man_. "I would have loved to have seen that."

"It was awful." She said. "My whole freshmen year of college I was known as Bombs Away."

"Is there anything you are good at?" he asked.

"Running." She said. "I like to run."

Daryl nodded; he knew what she was talking about. Every morning since she'd showed up into his life he'd seen her running in those little short track shorts. He was grateful for the fact that she wore those ear things when she did, she didn't have to hear the jeering Merle yelled when he saw her. Of course when he thought of things she was good at, that he knew she was good at. He thought to the nights when he'd stayed late at their work site just so he could hear her sing. Still he had a feeling that bringing that up would only embarrass her. For some reason that he'd yet to comprehend he liked having her here with him. "Well I don't think they have a treadmill here, I don't think you're quite the pool hall menace that you claim to be."

"Daryl…trust me it's a really bad idea and the last thing I want to do is maim you. I mean I think that you're a really nice guy and all." Clara rambled.

Daryl put his hands on Clara's shoulders, as soon as he done this it kinda confused him. He'd never been someone who was into physical contact. Of course once he'd touched the girl he realized that he kinda liked the contact with her. "Clara look at me," he said. She looked around for a second before looking up at him her, her bright blue eyes locking with his pale ones. "Breathe…you're not gonna hurt anyone."

Before he gave her a chance to respond he grabbed her hand, pulled her from her chair and towards the pool tables and gestured to the waitress to bring them beers. As Clara was being dragged by Marissa, her best friend gave her a big smile and a thumbs up. Clara made sure Daryl wasn't watching and gave her the finger. "You still have a chance to back out." She said.

"Nah…where would the fun in that be?" he asked racking the balls. "I think the problem is that you didn't have the right person to teach you."

She shook her head as she took her beer from the waitress and took a sip of it. "You're not the first person to say that."

"But I promise you I'll be the last." He said taking her beer. He set it on the table behind them and handed her a cue.

Clara took a deep breath, "Fine….but you're asking for it."

"Trust me." He said watching her as she leaned over the side of the table to line up the shot. "That's some of your problem, you're doing it wrong." He came up behind her, he felt her body go rigid at first but then relax against him. He'd thought it odd but of course they had just met. "Relax." He said against her ear as he covered her hands on the pole showing her how to hold it. He tried to ignore how intimately her body was pressed to his, how good she smelled, and that he'd like nothing better than to fist his hand in her soft curls and kiss her senselessly. "You want to hold it firmly but not too firmly. Once you got your shot lined up pull the cue back and hit the ball…you don't wanna do it too hard though." He said as he helped her break the balls.

It took Clara a second to clear her mind of the revulsion she felt when he first came up behind her. She knew that he wasn't Ed that he wouldn't do the things Ed did. "Uh huh," Was all Clara managed to say. Once her senses got over the first shock of him she realized how good it felt to have him there. She could feel Daryl's body pressed completely against her and she couldn't clear her head for the musky male scent of him. She'd never smelled anything quite like it before, it was like ivory soap, the musty smell of the woods, and saw dust. It was what a man was supposed to smell like, not that frilly cologne that most of the collage boys she knew were. Marissa had been right when she said that Daryl was a man…he was all man. She wasn't exactly sure how to handle that either.

"That's good." Daryl tried to keep from groaning, "You sank two balls…and you didn't kill anyone. You get to go again."

"Huh?" Clara asked then realized what he was talking about.

Over the next few hours he played pool and while she'd come a long way from maiming swim team members she still wasn't up to par with Daryl's skills. She'd even managed to win the last game they'd played but she was pretty sure that it was because Daryl let her though neither ever mentioned it. As they were putting the pool sticks up Marissa walked up to them. "It's getting pretty late." She said.

"Is it?" Clara asked then looked at her cellphone and was surprised when she saw how late it had gotten.

"I'm gonna head to the car I'll let you too say night." Marissa said then winked at Daryl.

Clara crossed her arms over her middle before looking up at Daryl, "I had fun."

He nodded as he raked his hand through his hair, "Me too." He said. There was a slight tone of surprise to his voice. The females he'd dealt with in the past had been annoying pains in his ass. He didn't get that vibe from Clara if anything she was like one of the guys…with boobs….that he kinda wanted to see naked, more than that he wanted to get to know her even more. "You busy tomorrow?"

Clara shook her head, "No, I'm free."

"I'm gonna go hunting in the morning but when's a good time to pick you up?" he asked.

Clara thought about it for a few seconds, she knew that having him pick her up from her house would be playing with fire. Still on Saturday afternoons Ed was always busy with his drinking buddies watching some game at some bar. "How's three?"

"That gonna cause any trouble for you?" he asked.

"No it will be fine." She assured him.

"Good." Daryl said.

Clara leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, "Night Daryl." She said before walking out of the bar.


	5. Chapter 5: Nerves of Steel

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it. **To kelizabeth13:** I'm so happy that you like Clara and the way that I write Daryl. I have to say as strange as it sounds, she really has become almost like my OTP for Daryl. At least as far as my writing goes. **To GatorGirl99:** Again…Glad you like it so much and it's really not broken record like…I really love that you love it. I really don't see either of them like jumping right into anything, they've both been through a lot. As for when Daryl finds out about Ed…just thinking about how his reaction is going to be is enough to give me a migraine. But at the same time I guess I'm a masochist because even though I know it's gonna give me a migraine I can't wait for it to happen. **To Leyshla Gisel**: You're welcome glad you liked the pool scene. And **To piratejessieswaby, loveorpain, FanFicGirl10, and my Guest reviewers: **Thank you so much for your reviews.

* * *

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

**Chapter 5: Nerves of Steel**

Marissa was sitting on the end of Clara's bed. She was half-heartedly texting Sadie, their other friend, all the details of what Clara was wearing on her first date with Daryl while Clara pulled everything out of her closet and fretted over what to wear. Even through the excitement of what was going on she still couldn't help but be a little worried. Maybe it was because she had been an enabler in this whole thing. "You need to becareful Clara…I mean you're kinda playing with fire having him pick you up here." She said. "You know how Ed can get."

"Believe me…I know how Ed is and he'll be gone until late in the night." Clara said holding up another dress.

"I just don't want you to get comfortable and forget is all." She said then shook her head, "No you should wear those dark wash cut off shorts and that turquoise and brown plaid sleeveless button up.

Clara pulled out the shirt she was talking about and frowned, "You don't think it's too country do you?"

Marissa laughed, "Just be honey I think it's just country enough."

"And you don't think I should wear one of my sundresses?" Clara asked still unsure.

Marissa tossed her phone onto the bed and walked over to Clara's closet and pulled the outfit out. "Trust me on this one. You don't know what he has in mind this is casual and it's still sexy."

Clara couldn't help but laugh, "Marissa I've never been sexy a day in my life."

"I call bullshit. There are plenty of guys we go to school with that think your sexy you just don't see them. There is nothing wrong with that either, most of them are probably after one thing. The point is they have thought about it." Marissa explained. To be honest she was grateful for the fact that Clara was oblivious to some of the assholes they knew from college. She'd learned oh too well the consequences of trusting the wrong guy. It was during their first semester away from home. She fell in love with the wrong boy, on the night of their homecoming she slept with him. The next day he acted like he didn't even know her. Once she got over her broken heart she realized that the whole thing caused her to learn a very important lesson. Most guys were full of shit the ones who weren't normally had boyfriends. Of course if she was honest with herself she wasn't the cold hard skeptic that she liked to pretend to be.

"You're full of shit." Clara said as she undone the front of her robe and started to dress.

"So you keep telling me." She said with a good natured smile. Once Clara was dressed she handed her the brown western style boots. "Put these on."

"Yes mother." Clara said taking the boots and stuffing her feet down into them. She looked at herself in the full length mirror. "Think it's as good as it's gonna get." She said pushing one of her wayward curls from her face.

"Trust me…he's not gonna know what hit him." Marissa said, "Now sit down I'll do your make-up."

* * *

Daryl had no idea what had gotten into him, that morning while he was hunting he'd manage to scare off more game then he'd actually managed to catch. His thoughts were preoccupied by blue eyes and blond hair. He'd never had a woman before made him act like this, never had one that infected his mind to the point that he could think of nothing but her. He wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting to happen that night. He'd never really done the date thing before. Most of the women he'd hooked up with in the past he met at a bar, they went back to his place and that was all she wrote. Sure there were times that it carried on more than one night but there had never been any dating. Hell there hadn't really been all that much talking either. He didn't really expect Clara to go for something like that; moreover he didn't want things to be like that between him and Clara. He wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting to happen between them he wanted it to be good.

By the time he got done cleaning his game and storing it he realized that he was running behind on time. Just as he was finishing up getting dressed matters got worse, he heard the loud rumble of Merle's motorcycle pulling into his driveway. He cursed under his breath as he lace up his boots. The last thing he needed was to deal with his older brother before going to get the girl. "What'ch you want Merle?" Daryl asked when his brother walked into the house without bothering to knock.

"Seeing what my baby brother was up to on a Saturday night is all." Merle shrugged. "What's got you all cleaned up like a Dandy?"

"I don't look like a fucking Dandy." Daryl growled at his brother. Of course to Merle, a clean pair of jeans and the brown button up shirt Daryl was wearing would qualify as dressing like a dandy.

"Somethin' has your panties all bunched up." Merle grinned. One of his favorite hobbies in life was busting his baby brother's balls. It was his way of letting Daryl know he cared about him, with the fuck ups they had for parents they'd never really learned how to communicate emotion very well. To compensate for that Merle knocked Daryl around every now and again. For that matter when Merle deserved it, Daryl gave him the same treatment back.

"Just…runnin' late is all." Daryl shrugged.

Merle narrowed his eyes at his brother, "Is it a female got you all worked up?" when Daryl shot Merle a death glare he laughed, "It is, isn't it? It's not that blond little Peletier bitch is it?"

"Don't fuckin' call her a bitch Merle." Daryl snapped at his brother. "Ya don't know shit about her."

"I know her kind…she might like to roll around in the dirt every once in a while but when she's done she'll kick you off her boot heels faster than you can blink." Merle predicted.

Daryl contemplating knocking the shit out of Merle, it pissed him off when he was like this. The fact that he knew Clara was waiting on him was the only thing that kept him from doing it. "Alright…I'm gone. There's beer in the fridge lock up when you're done." He said before walking out of the house his hands fisted in white knuckled fists.

Once he was in his worn out pickup truck he growled and punched the steering wheel. He had no idea why he let his brother get to him like that. He as he pulled away from the small dilapidated house that he called him he told himself over and over that Merle didn't know shit about what he was talking about. Still deep down there was that little boy part of Daryl who felt hurt by his brother's words. That part of him wondered why Merle couldn't just clap him on the back and be happy for him. Of course he knew the truth, he'd never had that happened and probably never would.

* * *

Clara was grateful for the fact that she was the only one at her house when three o'clock rolled around. Ed was on a drinking binge at one of his buddy's house while some kinda game played on the TV. The men would be too shit faced to even know that there was a game on. Carol was doing her weekly trip to the supermarket and Sophia was gone for the weekend. She paced back and forth in the living room in front of the large picture window. At three on the dot she was excited and jittery, at ten after she was a little nervous, when fifteen after rolled around her heart was sinking, and when three-thirty got there she was blinking back tears. She couldn't help but feel a little hurt that maybe he'd changed his mind after all.

Just as Clara started up the stairs to her room she heard a soft rumble in her drive way just as she turned around there was soft knock on the door. She ran down the stairs, slid on the tiled floor in front of the door way, almost falling into her mom's rubber tree plant. She took a deep breath before pulling the door opened. "Hey." She said.

Daryl raised an eyebrow, "Everything okay in there?" he asked.

Clara's cheeks turned pink, "It's fine. Why don't you come in?" she asked stepping out of the way so he could walk into the house and shut the door behind him.

"You ready?" he asked. He couldn't explain it but he wanted to get her far away from that place as possible.

"Let me get my purse." She said. "Just wait here; I'll only be a second." She quickly turned and went upstairs.

Daryl paced the small alcove just off the living room taking everything in. There was something almost industrious about the cleanliness of the Peletier house. There wasn't a speck of dirt, nothing was out of place. It was the typical middle income American's ideal home. There was something…Daryl couldn't quite put his finger on it though…that wasn't right about it. His thoughts were driven from his mind when Clara came back down the stairs. It was then that he really took his time to look her over; he couldn't help but mentally groan. He thought she'd looked amazing the night before in the little summer dress and the boots. Today in the sleeveless plaid shirt and the shorts was enough to make him drool.

"I'm ready." Clara said with a smile, then she noticed the way he was staring at her. "This is okay isn't it?" she asked gesturing to her outfit. "Cause I can change."

"No!" he said a little too quickly, "No it's perfect you ain't gotta change."

"Okay." She said.

As Daryl led her out to the truck he mentally tried to calm himself down. He pulled his door opened and climbed inside, then felt like a complete ass. He'd seen in all those stupid movies where the guy opened the girls' door for her and wondered if Clara expected the same from him. He however reasoned with himself, he wasn't one of those stupid assholes in those stupid movies. Instead he reached across the seat and opened her door from the inside and gave her his hands helping her into the truck. This was definitely going to be an interesting night.


	6. Chapter 6: Chicken

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans. **

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it.** To FanFicGirl10: **Don't really believe in perfect but I will say that things will be interesting. And he's trying to be all gentleman like in his very Daryl way of doing things. **To Micaela Beth Winchester: **Well I do plan on bring the zombies it just won't happen for a while. **To Leyshla Gisela: **Now why would you even think I have trickery going on ;) I mean would I do something like that?** To dangerouslywrong:** Your review gave me the warmest fuzzies of all warm fuzzies. I'm so glad that you like the stories so much and my writing. To piratejessieswaby: I'm so sorry Ed can't die yet cause there is so much that needs to happen between now and then I promise when it does happen…it will happen a lot.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

**Chapter 6: Chicken**

Clara smoothed her shorts when she climbed into the truck and slipped her seatbelt on as Daryl backed out of the driveway on the road. Once more they were silent as they drove away from Clara's neighborhood, it was something that she'd gotten used to. In fact she was pretty sure that Daryl wasn't much on the talkative side. "This is a nice truck." She said.

Daryl snorted and looked over at her, "It's a dented up rust bucket piece of shit."

Clara laughed, "No its not, it's got character. I've never really liked those shinny toys that car dealers try to pass off as trucks." She looked over at him and gave him a sly grin, "You know which ones I'm talking about right? The ones that are all polished up and ain't never seen a day's worth of work in their whole lives. I'm pretty sure that the drivers are probably over compensating for small penises."

He choked and looked over at her, "The fuck did you just say?"

Clara couldn't help but laugh, "You heard me."

"Not even sure what to say to that." He said. His first reaction was to ask her about what his truck said about him. He had a feeling that was something that would open up a whole can of worms that he wasn't sure he wanted answered. Still when she said his truck was nice it did make him kinda feel good. "So um…you're no one of those weird hippies that don't eat meat are you?"

She gave him a mischievous smile, "And if I said yes?"

"I'd say that you're shit out of luck and that you'll just have to starve." He said with a grin.

"It's probably a good thing that I'm not a hippy vegetarian." She smiled at him.

Daryl couldn't help but grin at her, that personality of hers was infectious. Still there was something underlying that he recognized something sad. "I guess it is."

"Do you mind?" Clara asked gesturing to the radio.

Daryl shook his head, "No it's fine."

She reached forward and turned the radio on and smiled when she heard Cold coming from the speakers. She always felt like you could tell so much about someone from the music they listened to. "I picked you for a country guy."

Daryl shrugged, "I listen to a bit of everything I don't mind some Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, and George Strait every now and then."

"Me too but I mostly listen to heavier stuff you know some Seether, Avenged Sevenfold, Theory of a Deadman." She said.

Daryl nodded, "I like some Stone Sour myself." He said watching her out of the corner of his eye. He was curious to see if he could get any recognition from her. "You know…they do that song Bother."

Clara went stiff in her seat, she wondered if he might have been there that night when she was playing. In the past she'd been so careful about it, after all she didn't want her neighbors to rat her out. It's one of the reasons she'd always been careful to try to keep the noise down. Of course the night she'd played Stone Sour was the first night she'd saw Daryl. That night she'd watched him pull away while she was unloading her car from taking Sophia swimming. "I know the song." Clara said. "And the band, I think they're great their lyrics were always deep and kinda dark at times."

Daryl nodded, "You studying music at school?"

Clara shook her head, "No history. Why?"

He shrugged as he pulled off of the main road on to a dirt path into the woods. It was only then that Clara realized how far out into the country they'd drove. "You just seem to know a lot about it is all. I just figured you might be."

"There's really not much you can do with a degree in music." She shrugged.

"And you can do a lot with history?" he asked.

"You'd be surprised." She smiled. "So…exactly where are you taking me, I'm having _Wrong Turn_ flash backs."

"You actually watched that steaming pile of shit?" Daryl asked.

"My best friend Marissa is a huge horror movie fan so I have watched probably every horror movie out there including the flooded market of B-Horror movies. And by B-horror movies I mean the porn with blood and gore and violence." Clara explained.

"You're a better friend than I am." Daryl said.

"I's okay I paid her back by making her watch every Eastwood movie ever made." Clara said.

"Even _Bridges of Madison County_?" Daryl said with a groan.

"Even _Bridges_." She said. "That one was just to be a bitch though."

"That's just mean." He said.

They drove the rest of the way to their destination in silence, the radio playing quietly in the background. It was nice, that ability of being quiet but not feeling weird about it. Finally the dirt road came to an end, and put the truck into park. "So um…what are we doing out here?" Clara asked out of curiosity.

"Thought we could work on that hand eye coordination some more." Daryl said with a grin.

"I'm almost afraid of what that means." She said.

Once they'd climbed out of the truck Daryl pulled the seat back and grabbed a shot gun and a cross bow. He slung them over his shoulder before grabbing the plastic bag with the KFC logo on it. "You don't mind chicken do you?"

Clara couldn't help but smile, "No, I don't mind chicken."


	7. Chapter 7: Daryl Dixon Logic

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it**. To Micaela Beth Winchester: **I like to use real details like that, I think it's important to make the characters as real as possible. As crazy as it sounds they're like people who live in my head they all have their own personalities and taste, and there are times when their moods affect my own. My husband often tells me that one day he's going to have to have me committed because of 'the people in my head.' **To FanFicGirl10, Leyshla Gisel, and to my Guest reviewer: **I think that this date it's a lot of Daryl opening up to Clara who he is without saying it in words. And honestly who doesn't LOVE some KFC. I thought it was just a realistic detail that makes the characters a little more real. And him taking her shooting, again it's something that comes naturally to Daryl. I think taking her up into the woods would be the Dixon version of dinner and a movie. Besides without even realizing it he's preparing her for the impending Apocalypse. Finally **To piratejessieswaby, kaseym, and loveorpain:** Thank you so much for your reviews.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Daryl Dixon Logic**

The clearing that Daryl parked them in was beautiful. It was small the grass underfoot was soft and slightly mossy. The air was sweet with the smell of wild flowers that dotted the meadow, they were still young blooming in bright pinks, lavenders, and yellow the grass was still brightly green. In the distance was the babbling sound of a stream. A course of birds and insects chattered keeping the air from being completely silent. "This place is amazing." She said looking around.

Daryl watched Clara as she looked around taking in everything around him. Though he hadn't really admitted it to himself this had been a test of sorts. Part of it had been because of the bullshit Merle spouted. How females like Clara were only after one thing, money. And while he might not have as much of it as he would like to have, Daryl Dixon exactly hurting for money. He could have easily taken her to a nice restaurant, that wasn't him. He was a simple guy who liked simple things. Bringing her to this place...his place was a way for him to open up to her without it being some overly drawn out bullshit. "Oh we're not there yet." Daryl said handing her the bag of food. "There's a blanket behind the seat you mind grabbin' it?"

"No." Clara said. She walked around the side of the truck and grabbed the worn out quilt from behind the seat and closed the door. "Exactly where are we going?" she asked again.

He grinned, "It's not much further. You don't do good with surprises do you?" he asked.

Clara laughed, "I can't help it."

"You know, curiosity killed the cat." He said grabbing the cooler and a large back pack off of the bed of the truck.

"And satisfaction brought it back." Clara countered with a mischievous grin.

"Says you." He said. "How far can you go in those boots?"

"However far we got to go." She said with a shrug.

Daryl nodded, "It's not too much farther." He said before leading her down a path into the woods.

They walked for a while in silence, for Daryl it was completely natural. He rarely chatted when he was in the woods after all the slightest presence of a human could scare away anything he wanted to attract. Of course this time was different, while he liked the idea that Clara wasn't backing away in fear when he pulled the gun and crossbow from the backseat of the truck he was still pretty sure that she wasn't ready to bring on the hunting if she ever would be.

After about fifteen minutes of hiking they made it to their destination. It wasn't too far into the woods but far enough they probably wouldn't be bothered by anyone, if anyone was to even come along. It was the first time that it registered to Clara that this was one of those things that you saw in horror movies. The letting some guy led you into the woods to where you would meet your untimely demise. Or there was the other option, he was a sparkly Emo vampire and he was going to start ripping trees out of the ground and throwing them around. Considering she'd seen Daryl in the sun and there was no glitter to be found she figured it was a safe bet he wasn't one of those…the thought alone was horrifying. Pushing all that from her mind and mentally making a note to kick Marissa and Sadie's asses later she looked around taking in everything around her. The place was beautiful; the stream that she'd heard when they first arrived at the clearing was now in front of her. It was bigger than what she was expecting about six feet wide and maybe a foot or so deep. The water rushed over smooth bronze colored stone and was so clear that you could see the fishes moving through the water. There were trees scattered about providing abundant shade from the late spring Georgia sun. It was clear by looking at their gnarled trunks that they were old, Clara was sure that if she wrapped her arms around them she wouldn't be able to meet her hands. "Wow." That was all she was able to say. The words that formed in her mind didn't seem adequate in their description of this place.

Daryl nodded as he watched her. "Next time we'll bring some poles catch dinner." He said. "I figured that would be a bit too much…you know for a first date." The word 'date' felt awkward rolling off of his tongue.

"Oh my God, I love to fish." She said turning around. She could tell by the look on his face that he was surprised. "My Grandpa Joe used to take me every summer. I even bait my own hook."

"Well damn you're just the perfect woman aren't you?" he teased.

Clara's cheeks turned pink, "I don't know about all that."

"So how come he doesn't take you anymore?" he asked propping the gun and crossbow against one of the tree's thick trunk and setting down the back pack and cooler.

"He and my Grandma Caroline moved down to Miami about two years ago." Clara spread the blanket on the thick carpet of leaves and automatically started to set out the food. She couldn't help but smile when she saw that he'd bought the 20 piece bucket of chicken. "Exactly who all are you planning on feeding?" she teased.

Daryl shrugged as he opened the cooler and pulled out two bottles of beer and opened them before walking over to where Clara was setting out their food, "I like to eat and you look like you could use some filling up." He set down on the blanket beside of her and handed her one of the beers.

"Just so you know…There is nothing wrong with my appetite." She said accepting it and taking a drink, "I just don't think I can eat ten pieces of chicken is all."

Daryl reached into the bucket and pulled out a chicken leg, "More for me then." He said before taking a big bite.

While they ate they made small talk about things like their favorite movies (_Gone with the Wind_-Clara and _Young Guns_-), their favorite colors (Pink-Clara and Blue-Daryl), what they liked to do in their spare time (Anything to do with music-Clara and Hunting-Daryl), and their families. Or rather Daryl talked about Merle being the constant pain in his ass while Clara bragged on her baby sister Sophia. Even though Daryl complained about his older brother Clara could tell that there was an underlying affection for him. Finally they'd finished eating and they cleared away the mess packing it along with the leftovers were packed away Daryl walked over to where he'd laid down the back pack. Not far from where they had their picnic was what was left of a wooden fence. At one time the section of woods that they were in had been a part of an old farm. It had long sense been foreclosed on and had been tore down the only remnants that it had even existed was scattered pieces of fencing like this one.

Clara watched as Daryl pulled glass beer bottles out of the back pack and set them up. It was then that she started to get a little nervous; it wasn't the fact that there were going to be guns involved. She'd grew up around them, though she'd never learned how to handle one. She just couldn't stop thinking about that Christmas movie she watched every year with Kevin. The one with the little boy who wanted the Red Rider BB gun, all of the adults around him kept telling him that he'd shoot his eye out. And then the little bastard almost did. "So um…you won't let me shoot my eye out will you?" she asked.

Daryl couldn't help but laugh as he picked the shot gun up, loaded it and made sure it was ready to go before walked up to Clara handing it to her. "Your eyes are safe…they're too pretty to shoot out." He said a little shyly.

Clara couldn't help but smile, "Thank you."

Daryl cleared his throat, "Alright we're gonna start with the first bottle, show me how you're gonna shoot it off of the fence." Clara held the gun awkwardly she put the stock under her arm and closed one eye looking down the barrel of the gun to make sure she was actually aiming at her target. There was something about her ignorance that Daryl found adorable. Hell in anyone else he'd be laughing his ass off at them. "No you're doing that wrong." He said moving behind her.

"Just doing what they do in the movies." She said.

"Yeah well this ain't the movies." He said. "You shoot that gun with it under your arm like that it will knock you on your ass." He moved the stock from under her arm and showed her how to hold it firmly against her shoulder. "It's gonna have some kick but as long as you hold it firmly you'll be fine. When you look down the barrel keep both eyes opened. You see more that way; you always wanna be aware of your surroundings."

"Okay." Clara said. She wasn't able to manage many words. She wasn't sure if it was the gun in her hands or the man standing behind her but her heart was racing and so was her mind.

"When you're ready…just squeeze the trigger don't jerk it." He said.

Clara nodded; once she was sure she had the target lined up she squeezed the trigger. She'd done what Daryl said, held the stock firmly against her shoulder but the kick from it and the fact that she wasn't expecting it to be nearly as hard as it was, caught her off guard she ended up falling back against Daryl. Instinctively, Daryl's arms wrapped around Clara's waist as the girl fell back against him, "I got you." He said looking down at her. "Probably should have warned you about the kick."

"Hine sight and all that," Clara said looking up at him. Maybe it was the exhilaration of firing a gun for the first time or maybe it was just Daryl. She wasn't sure exactly what it was that caused what happened next or even who was the one who initiated it. The next thing Clara knew Daryl's lips were on hers, the gun she was holding clambered to the ground and she sank her hand into his hair as she kissed him slowly.

Daryl groaned against her lips, his hands which had been until that point just supporting her were now wrapped firmly around her holding her against him. He'd never felt like this and that scared the hell out of him but at the same time he couldn't get enough of this…of her. Slowly he sank to the ground with her his tongue slowly sweeping into her mouth.

Clara moaned softly as he parted her lips to tease his tongue with her own. There was that nervous part of her in the back of her mind that wondered if she was doing this right. After all this was, for the most part her first kiss. Sure there had been a few very brief at the door kiss good nights but nothing as intense as this. Well unless you counted-but she pushed that thought from her mind. She didn't want to think about him while she was with Daryl.

Slowly he broke the kiss, his hands fumbling with the pearly buttons on her shirt as he trailed kisses down the side of her neck. He flicked his tongue over her pulse enjoying the way it jumped when he did. "Clara you're so fucking beautiful he groaned as he pushed the folds of the shirt off of her smooth skin.

Her face turned red, "Daryl…I've never…I mean with anyone."

It took a few seconds for what she was saying to sink in and he pulled back, his eyes meeting her's. "You're a virgin?"

Clara could feel the heat from her face as it turned even redder, "Yes."

"But you go to college." He said sitting up and raking his hand through his hair.

"Yes it possible to be a virgin and a college student you know." She said her tone defensive as she too set up and pulled her shirt closed.

"We should...I should get you back." Daryl said standing up and walking away from her.

Clara couldn't pretend that her feelings weren't hurt. She didn't understand the complete change in Daryl's demeanor. Did he actually expect her to just give it up in the middle of the woods? Still the rational part of her brain didn't believe that at all. Once she'd adjusted her clothes she followed Daryl. "Daryl?" she asked coming up behind him and resting her hand on his shoulder.

It was all Daryl could do to keep from jerking away from her. While he'd long ago learned to deal with the scars that marred his back it was still his first instinct to jerk away when someone touched it. "Yeah?" he asked turning around.

"Care to explain what just happened?" she asked looking up at him.

"I just…" he sighed, "You're innocent, I don't want to be the one to change that."

Clara bit back the snort of laughter, "I'm a virgin…I lost my innocence a long time ago."

Daryl knew that there was more to what she was saying but he wasn't ready to press her about it. "Yeah well your first time shouldn't be with some asshole you met in a bar in the middle of the woods. I can't be your first time Clara."

Clara thought about it for a second, "So what you're saying is you want me to go fuck someone else and then I'll be good enough for you?"

Daryl growled he couldn't stand the idea of another man with his hands on her, "That ain't fuckin' what I said and you know it."

"Well then you're going to have explain to me Daryl Dixon Logic cause it's lost on me." She said her arms crossed under her breasts.

Daryl walked over to her and cupped her chin in his hand making her looking up at him, their eyes locking. "It's not that I'm too good for you…it's you're far too good for me Clara Peletier." He said before kissing her again.


	8. Chapter 8: Chiggers

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Chiggers**

"Now explain to me again...how did you manage to get chiggers all over you?" Marissa asked as she poured some calamine lotion on a cotton ball.

"Are you really going to make me say it?" Clara asked her cheeks turning as red as the welts that covered her body like painfully itchy polka dots. She was just grateful for the fact that Marissa couldn't see her face, she was lying face down on her best friend's bed. That morning after her run she showered and changed and headed straight for Marissa's house.

Marissa's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Oh hell yes, this is too good to pass up."

Clara thought back to the night before and the time she'd spent out in the woods with Daryl. It was hands down the best date she'd ever been on. It lacked all of the needless frilly showmanship as the boring dinner and show combs that she'd been on in the past. It didn't leave her confused about the person she'd spent the evening with either. While she had yet to unravel the great mystery that is Daryl Dixon she at least had a glimpse of the man he was. It was a man that she wanted to know more of. "We went for a hike." Clara shrugged.

"See ain't you glad I kept you from wearing that dress?" She asked while dabbing the pink liquid all over the splotches on Clara's back.

Even as Marissa said the words Clara wondered what would have happened if she had. After Daryl's confession about his apprehension of being her first he'd still had a hell of a time keeping his, hands and mouth to himself. They'd spent the rest of their time together just…making out. Sure his hands roamed her body over top of her clothes making her working her into a completely frustrated state. When they finally came to their senses it was well past dark. Daryl barely made it back to town with Clara. Not five minutes after she was safely in the house she heard the rumble of Ed's beat up town car pulling into the drive. Knowing what kind of state he'd be in after the drinking binge he'd been on she ran up the stairs and locked the door to her bedroom and shoved her desk chair under the chair and lay in bed thinking about the events of that night. When she got up the next morning she realized that she was covered in itchy red blotches. They were all over her back, her stomach and the tops of her thighs. She spent Sunday in a very uncomfortable state and she couldn't tell her mother because then she'd have to tell her mother what she was doing and who she'd been with. While her mother might have thought that her husband was over reacting about the Dixon brothers and their crew of construction workers, that didn't mean when push came to shove she'd condone her daughter spending time with one. "Things would have been interesting if I would have." She said with a sly grin.

"Tease," Marissa said with a laugh, "now you have to tell me something."

"We did more than hike. He took me to this beautiful place by this stream. We ate has small talk, the he was teaching me to shoot this pump action shotgun. Well I didn't realize it would kick so hard. It knocked me back into him. Then the next thing I knew we were kissing."

"How was it?" Marissa asked her eyes dreamy. "I mean he has that mouth that says he can kiss the shit out of you."

Clara's skin turned pink again. "Daryl Dixon can definitely kiss the shit out of someone. And that's all I'm saying."

Marissa laughed, "So just for curiousity sake and I swear this is the last question I promise."

"Fine." Clara sighed.

"How far did he get?" Marissa asked.

Clara laughed, "He was a complete gentleman."

"So when are you going to see him again?" Marissa asked as she put the lid on the calamine and threw the pink stained cotton balls away.

"I saw him this morning when I was running." Clara said.

"You know what I mean."

"We've talked a little on the phone but we haven't made any definite plans. Merle and Daryl are working today trying to finish up Mrs. O'Neil's roof cause we're supposed to be getting some bad weather this week." Clara explained.

"Well I think after your little close call with Ed that you should have him pick you up here." Marissa said.

"Don't you think that would be a little suspicious?" Clara asked as she set up and pulled her shirt down.

"Is there any reason it should be?" Marissa asked she knew that Clara would never tell her what was going on under that roof. She'd probably take the secret to her dying grave. It didn't mean she was going to stop trying.

Clara didn't say anything instead just gave her a look.

* * *

Daryl was miserable and it wasn't just because of the chigger bites that covered his forearms or the fact that he'd had perpetual blue balls since the night before. It was because Merle was teasing him relentlessly about the date he'd had with Clara. "Your girl's lookin' good this mornin'." Merle said as they watched Clara come out the house for her usual morning run.

"She always looks good." Daryl grumbled as he lit a cigarette.

"Now my question is if she was inspected…would she have chiggers too." Merle said.

"I told you, I got them while I was huntin'." Daryl said taking a drag off of his cigarette.

"You keep telling me. What I can't figure is, how." Merle said watching his brother intently. "You never got them before."

"I went pretty deep this time is all." Daryl said.

"I'm sure you did baby brother…I'm sure you did." Merle grinned.

"Fuck off Merle." Daryl said flicking his cigarette butt into the yard and grinding it with his boot heel and walked away from his brother.

Clara was just pulling into the driveway when Daryl walked around the side of Mrs. O'Neil's house. She couldn't ignore the way her heart sped up when she saw him standing there in his tattered work worn clothes. He was by far the sexiest man that Clara had ever seen. Even though she knew that talking to him here was much like Marissa said, playing with fire, she still couldn't seem to stop herself from walking towards him. "Hey." Clara said with a smile.

"Whas goin' on?" Daryl asked looking down at Clara. He was starting to believe that she prettier each time he saw her.

"Just got back from Marissa's." she said then noticed the blotches on his arms that match the ones covering her own skin. "See you got them too."

Daryl couldn't help but grin a little as he absently scratched one of the welts. "Yeah, you need some help with them…you know later?" he asked slipping his arm around her waist pulling her to him.

"I might be able to get away." She said looking up at him her hands resting against his chest. She loved the way his muscles flexed under her touch.

"Good," Daryl said before leaning down to kiss her softly.

"Later." Clara said reluctantly pulling away.

* * *

That night after the dishes had been done and Ed was seated in front of the TV. Clara quietly made her way downstairs, her hopes was that she was going to be able to make it out of the house without a whole bunch of bullshit with Ed. She almost made it to the door when she heard him call her name. Taking a deep breath she walked from the alcove to the living room and leaned against the door frame. "It's late where you goin' to?" he asked standing up and walking over to her.

"I'm meeting Marissa for a late movie." She said crossing her arms under her breasts, she took a step back from him when he invaded her personal bubble.

Ed ran his hand over her hair as he looked down at her, "You ain't had much time for your daddy since you been home. You still ain't letting that misunderstanding at Christmas bother you are you?"

Clara recoiled; his hand stroking her hair was enough to make her feel nauseous. "I um….I have to go." She stammered. "I'm gonna be late if I don't go."

"You ain't gotta go nowhere just stay home with your daddy." Ed said.

Before he had a chance to grab her wrist Clara bolted for the door. Her legs were wobbly as she fumbled in her bag for her keys. She wanted to get as far away from him as she possibly could and climbed into her Jeep. She pulled the directions Daryl had given her to his house out of her purse.

Daryl was leaned back in his easy chair when he heard the sound of the car pulling up into his drive. He'd started to wonder if Clara was going to be able to make it. Though they never talked about it, he knew that her relationship with him was trouble. He wondered what Ed Peletier would do about if he ever found out about it. He had his suspicions about the man, more times than he'd wanted to count saw old Ed in the window watching Clara when she was running. He watched her in a way that no father should ever watch his daughter. The times he'd seen it, it was all he could do to keep from kicking the bastard's ass. In fact, he planned on making that fantasy a reality. Slowly he stood up and walked over to the door when he heard Clara's soft knocks. "Startin' to wonder about you." Daryl said letting her in. He frowned when he got a good look at her. Over the years he'd learned what terrified looked like, Clara was terrified.

"Sorry it just took me a while to get away." She said walking into the house her arms wrapped around her middle. Daryl's house was exactly what she expected it to be, the front door opened up into the living room. The room it's self really wasn't all that big there was a fire place on the far wall with a gun rack hanging over it with three shot guns in it. One of them Clara had recognized as the one she'd shot the night before. There was a worn couch and a recliner. The room was opened to a small kitchen which was neat clean; she couldn't help but smile a bit when she saw the dishes still in the drain board. To anyone else this would seem something trivial but in the Peletier house the dishes were never left to dry on their own. As a child Clara remembered her father going after her mother because of it. She liked the fact that nothing was perfect in Daryl's house from the worn out furniture to the scuffed up hardwood floods. It was a place where one could just…be.

"Come here." Daryl said wrapping his arms around her and holding her against his chest. "What happened."

"It was nothing." She said softly pressing her face against his chest her hands sliding up his back. If someone would have told her that she'd find this level of comfort from a complete stranger she never would have believed them. The moment she was in his arms she felt safe, protected. It was something she'd never felt before.

"Don't do that." He cupped her chin in his hand and lifting her face so he could look her in the eyes. "Don't lie to me."

To be honest Clara hadn't really noticed that she'd lied to him. Avoiding telling others the truth had become second nature to her. "Sorry." She said.

"That bastard did he-"He asked his voice full of venom.

"No." Clara cut him off. She couldn't explain it, she was humiliated by the things that Ed made her do. She was afraid of telling Daryl, afraid that if she did that he would stop looking at her the way he did. That he would think she was all broken and used up.

Daryl nodded he leaned down and kissed her softly, "I won't ask again…you'll trust me one day and you'll tell me."

Clara didn't say anything, she just nodded.


	9. Chapter 9: Remedy

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it. **To kelizabeth13:** I've always seen Daryl as a very perceptive person as well as being very intelligent. One of the reasons he's able to pick up on the stuff that's happening to C lara is because he knows the signs of someone being abused, like recognizes like. **To Micaela Beth Winchester:** Ed always creeped me out too it's probably the reason why he ended up such a creepy mother fucker in my stories. **To Rea Josette: **From the time Clara showed up in my head she and Daryl have had this amazing chemistry and it's something that I can't take credit for it is what it is. That probably sounds completely insane but it's the only way I know how to explain it. To GatorGirl99: I totally agree with you, Ed needed his ass kicked by Daryl very much badly. When I first set down to try to write KS I had planned on setting it during season one. I just never could come up with a solid way to begin it. When I set down to start writing it starting at the beginning of season 2 it was like everything fell in to place so I went with it. The idea for this story just kinda fell into my lap, to be honest I wasn't even sure if anyone would be interested but I'm glad it's a hit. In a lot of ways I'm enjoying how this one is falling together as much if not more than I was with KS. **To FanFicGirl10:** Chiggers are mean little bastards. They're just barely able to be seen with the naked eye they look like little red dots. They are an absolute nightmare, they tend to live among foliage and really like most places especially areas where there's water. They bite the flesh and their bites leave these itchy rashes. Count your blessings that you'd never heard of them before. I had originally intended on having them get poison oak and then I remembered his barbeque my family had for the 4th of July. Everyone who was there ended up with them and it was just horrible. As for how far Ed has gone with Clara to some degrees I'm sticking to the backstory from KS. As I start really deviling into it things may be changed to some degrees. SO I hope that kinda answers your question. **To Leyshla Gisel:** It's been going on for a while, but this is the first time he'd tried anything since she got back home. **To kaseym:** You have no idea how good it makes me feel to hear that this is your favorite story. I hope it continues to be so. **To loveorpain, PeacefulDuck, bashfyl, and GypsyWitchBaby:** Thank you so much for your reviews.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Remedy**

Clara was sitting on the couch in Daryl's living room. She could hear him behind her, he was moving around in the kitchen. She knew that he was upset that she hadn't told him what had happened but she was grateful for the fact that he hadn't pressed. The only time she'd ever told anyone about what was going on had back fired on her. It woke her up to an ugly truth; just because someone is an adult and they say that they're going to help you don't mean that they actually would. Clara had been sixteen when she learned that ugly truth.

_~Flashback~_

_Clara walked into Dr. Bennett's office; she was the school psychologist, never before had their school had one. Until that point there had always been a councilor that you could talk to but to be honest it was really kind of a joke. On the first day of school during the assembly Mrs. Carroll, the principal had explained about the new program allowing them to now have someone who could really help students with their problems. In the past Clara had always scoffed at the idea of talking to someone about what was going on at home. What made her change her mind was that when Dr. Bennett talked to them, Clara had felt like she'd been talking directly to her. It had taken her a few weeks to be able to work up the courage to actually speak to the psychologist. There had been times, times before today where Clara stood outside of the office door and could never work up the courage to go inside. After what had happened the night before, she just couldn't take it anymore. "Hello Clara." Dr. Bennett said looking up from the file she'd been reading over. "Why don't you have a seat?" _

_Clara felt like she was moving in slow motion as she made her way into the office. Her eyes darted around the room taking everything in. There were copies of her multiple degrees hanging on the wall as well as pictures of her wedding and of children who shared some of Dr. Bennett's characteristics. Slowly she set her back pack down by her chair and set down. "Thanks." She said._

"_So what can I help you with today?" she asked slipping her silver framed glasses off and laying them on the opened file. "Things are going well with your classes?" _

_Clara nodded, "Yeah they're going really good."_

"_And things are going well with the track and cross country team?" Dr. Bennett asked. "I know that sometimes things can be stressful for student/athletes." _

_For just five seconds Clara wished that Dr. Bennett would let her talk instead of asking her all these questions. "School is fine." She said again. "It's home that's not."_

"_I see." Dr. Bennett said, "Why don't you tell me about it?" _

'_I've been trying to.' Clara thought to herself then said. "I don't know where to begin."_

_Dr. Bennett gave her one of those fake sympathetic looks, "Why do you try at the beginning it's usually a good place." _

"_The things that I say here…you can't tell them to anyone right?" she asked a little nervously._

"_That's right, whatever you tell me stays between us." Dr. Bennett said._

"_The beginning," Clara said then thought about it for a few seconds, "My dad hits my mom, I guess that would be the beginning. He has for as long as I can remember, my mom she's never done anything about it. I don't know if it's because she's afraid of him or she secretly likes the abuse." _

"_Your parents are Ed and Carol Peletier right?" Dr. Bennett asked as she started to jot down notes. _

"_Yes." Clara said, she wasn't sure how exactly that was relevant. _

"_I met them at the open house when I first arrived, they seem like a lovely couple." Dr. Bennett said. _

"_Yeah Ed is really good at hiding who he really is." Clara said feeling a little defensive. "He's always wanted people to believe that he's a good husband and a good father. He's never had anything to do with me and my little sister. When they brought Sophia home from the hospital he stayed at his friends' house so he didn't have to listen to Sophia crying at night." _

"_Is that was this is about…you're angry because you felt ignored by your father?" Dr. Bennett asked. _

_Clara knew that the look on her face had to be one of utter bewilderment. "Would you please let me speak?" she asked as unshed tears burned her eyes. _

"_I'm sorry Clara; I was just trying to understand what you're telling me better." Dr. Bennett said._

"_No you're not you're trying to twist everything that I say into something else." Clara said. _

"_Clara look, I'm going to be honest with you." She said, "I specialize in adolescence psychiatry. I see things like this all the time. You're a very pretty girl you have a family that provides well for you. You're an exceptional student, you're popular, you're a good athlete. Your mother she just started working nights didn't she?" _

_Clara's brow wrinkled as she nodded her head, "I don't understand what any of this has anything to do with what I'm trying to talk to you about." She said her voice quivering as tears fell onto her cheeks. _

"_It's my professional opinion that you're just in need of attention." Dr. Bennett said. _

"_And it's my professional opinion that you need to find a new goddamn job because you suck ass at this one." Clara said. "The reason I came to talk to you was because I thought you might actually be able to help me. Last night my dad forced me onto my knees and made me do things to him that no father should ever make his daughter do." _

"_Clara we really need to spend some time talking about these delusions-"_

"_Fuck you." Clara said grabbing her bag and running from the room and slamming the door behind her. _

_~End flash back~_

Daryl walked into the living room and set down on the couch beside of Clara, "Drink this you'll feel better." He said pushing a mug into her hand.

"What is it?" Clara asked taking it from him.

"Coffee," he said watching her take a drink of it. He couldn't help but laugh a little when she coughed, "It's on the Irish side."

"I think it's more Irish than coffee." She said this time taking a deeper drink than she had before. "I probably shouldn't drink too much of this, I'll have to drive home."

Daryl shook his head, "You're stayin' here tonight. You're still shook up you don't need to be drivin'."

"I don't have anything with me, clothes or anything." She said.

"We'll work something out." He said. "Now I know I said that I wouldn't ask any more questions but-"

"You changed your mind." She said.

He shook his head, "No that part of the deal still stands I won't push none. I figure we can establish some things that I already know to be true. All you have to do is say yes or no."

"Okay." Clara said looking at the black liquid in the mug.

"Your father beats the hell out of your mom." He said.

Clara looked up in surprise, "How did you know?" There had been people who'd been part of Carol Peletier's inner circle who didn't even know that.

Daryl shrugged, "I recognize the signs, when we're out there workin' and she comes and goes she keeps her eyes on the ground. If she gets asked a question it's always very direct and to the point 'yes sir, no sir'. Yesterday in your house, there weren't nothin' out of place and that ain't normal when you have a little girl running around. And my guess would be you and your sister has witnessed things you never should have."

"I remember this one time mama had been workin' all day and instead of coming home and cooking she brought in take out. He felt like even though she was workin' 40 hours a week just like he was that his meals should be home cooked and on the table when he got home. I was about nine, Sophia was a baby and I remember hiding in the attic with her because I was afraid he'd come after us next." She said.

Daryl took the cup from her and set it on the table and then pulled her into his arms and held her tightly as he stroked her hair gently. "Just promise me one thing…if he lays a hand on you…"

Clara nodded, "I promise." For the first time she actually meant it.

"Good." He said before leaning down and claiming her lips in a slow kiss.

Clara moaned softly parting her lips when she felt Daryl's tongue flick against them and teased it with her own. She ran her hand up the side of his neck her fingers tangling in his hair. This is what she needed, what had happened with her father had brought back some painful memories she needed Daryl to make her forget it.

Daryl groaned as he swept his tongue into her mouth her own sweet tasted mingled with the whiskey from her coffee was intoxicating. Slowly he laid back on the couch pulling her with him as he did. He liked this, the lazy kisses they were sharing the way her body felt pressed against his. If he was one of those hopeless romantic assholes he'd probably say something like she fit perfectly in his arms. Of course there was nothing romantic about Daryl Dixon. Slowly he ran his hand down her back and pulled the soft fabric of her shirt up so he could feel her smooth skin. He pulled back and looked down at her when his fingertips came into contact with the raised bumps of the chigger bites. "You just got ate alive didn't you sweetheart?" he asked pushing her shirt up a little higher so he could get a better look.

Clara's cheeks turned red, "Yeah well…you got them too." She finished lamely. "Marissa put calamine on them earlier."

"Nah that won't help but the itch," He said rolling from beneath her and grabbing her hand to tug her up off of the couch. "Lets get this taken care of."

Daryl lead her in the small but neat bathroom and lifted her up onto the counter. "This is gonna hurt like a bitch but it will take care of them." He opened the linen cabinet and pulled out a couple of towels and a bath cloth. "You gotta…um take your shirt off."

Clara nodded as she started undoing the buttons on her shirt, she bit back a smile when he quickly turned around. Even though he'd seen her the night before in her bra it was still nice that he seemed concerned about her modesty. She shrugged the shirt off and laid it on the counter beside of her before picking one of the towels up. "Okay you can turn around."

He opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out an unlabeled jar that contained a blue colored paste and set it down before turning the water on hot in the sink and wetting the bath cloth. Clara watched his methodic movements. She could tell by the look on his face that he was deep in thought, once the cloth was soaked he turned the water off and wringed it out really good before dipping it into the jar."I gotta scrub these raw with that medicine it gets the top layer off and lets it work down under the skin. This will clear it up." He promised.

Clara nodded as she pulled her hair over her shoulder so it didn't get in his way. "I'm good to go." She said.

Daryl nodded; he didn't say anything before he started scrubbing the legions on her back. He knew that was he was doing was hurting her but she never let on. The only sign was the way her hands were white knuckled and fisted in the towel she held over her breasts. "It's done." Daryl said softly as he leaned down and pressed a kiss against her shoulder. "Let's get you cleaned up for bed."

Clara nodded as she looked up at him. "Thank you Daryl." She said before leaning up to kiss him softly.


	10. Chapter 10: Good-Night Sweetheart

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note**: Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it. **To Leyshla Gisel:** I don't dislike Carol exactly. As far as the show's concerned I like the character I just can't really bring myself to write her. I think she's really came along way since Season 1 and even Season 2. I know what you mean about the witness to physical abuse. I was about 8 the first time I ever encountered it. I grew up in a good home, my dad is a preacher and I had never really knew anything about abuse until the summer that my uncle was dying. My mom had to go to Flordia to help take care of him. He was living with my mom's older sister whose husband was a mean bastard. At night when they'd go to bed he'd beat the hell out of her and in the morning she'd be covered in bruises. There was nothing anybody could do because she wouldn't leave him. It was really just a hopeless situation. **To Rea Josette:** Lets be honest…is Ed ever happy about anything? **To FanFicGirl10: **Yeah Dr. Bennett is a real bitch but I'm sure she'll get her's in the end. I believe that there is a special circle in hell for people who don't help other people. Granted she's just a figment of my imagination…but yeah I still believe karma affects them too. **To Micaela Beth Winchester:** It's not repetitive, it's very much appreciative. As for the little things Daryl does, I think more often than not the little things makes a greater impact on someone than really big things. Maybe that's just me I'm a simple person. I tend to get excited over the most random stuff that most people would think as something trivial. In the words of Eric Draven in the Crow nothing is trivial. **To bashfyl:** I'm sorry that you felt like it was too short. How I write chapters is I pick up where the last one let off and I write until I feel like it comes to an end. It's the reason why some are longer than others. I will try harder next time. **To MissAmazing101, PeacefulDuck, loveorpain, and piratejessieswaby: **Thank you so much for your reviews.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Good-Night Sweetheart**

Clara walked out of Daryl's small bathroom, after he'd helped her take care of the bites on her back he left her alone to take care of the ones on her stomach and thighs. Only coming back to bring her one of his button down flannels to sleep in. Being alone like this in his house it gave her time to think of a lot of things, like the fact that only a few days had passed since she'd official met Daryl and she felt like he'd always been a part of her life. There were so many things that she wondered about, like how he felt about how fast things had moved between them. If he felt for her the way she felt about him. It was a lot of scary things that she knew that she'd never be able to ask him. There were things about Daryl that she knew he was keeping from her. Much like the things about Ed she was keeping from him. There were times when she wondered why she even bothered then she remembered that she was protecting the people around her as much as she was protecting herself. Once she was done she hopped off of the counter and pulled the oversized blue flannel shirt on, the hem fell to her mid thighs and the sleeves well past her hands. She took her time buttoning the buttons; she was trying to delay even for a few more minutes having to leave the sanctuary of the bathroom. It wasn't because she was nervous about Daryl's expectations it was because it was the first time she'd had a coed sleep over. Or rather a coed sleepover quite like this one. There had been a few times that her friend Kevin had slept over at Marissa's house, nights that she'd been there. After a few simple dates and a failed awkward near miss as far as kissing went, they'd parted as only friends. Daryl and Kevin were different, very different much like Marissa had pointed out the night at the pub, Daryl was a man.

Finally after lingering in the bathroom for as long as she possibly could, Clara finally unlocked the door and pushed it opened. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "So what was in that medicine, it smells kinda like mouthwash?" she asked walking out of the bathroom and leaning against the door frame.

Daryl looked up and nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw Clara standing there. He was pretty sure that he'd never seen anything quite as sexy as she was wearing his old shirt. "It um…it's made from cool mint Listerine and baking soda. The Listerine has antiseptic in it and it cools the bites down. They feelin' any better?"

Clara nodded, "Much."

"Come on, I'll show you to where you're going to sleep tonight." Daryl said slowly standing up and walking over to where she was standing at and ran his hand down her arm before taking her hand. He led her to a door just past the kitchen and pushed it opened, like the rest of the house everything in the room was neat and much like the rest of the house the furnishings were Spartan. It sent a clear statement that Daryl Dixon didn't need materialistic bullshit. "You can take the bed; I'll sleep on the couch."

"No, that's not necessary; I figured I'd be on the couch. You don't have to give up your bed for me." Clara said looking up at him.

"I've slept in worse." Daryl cupped her chin in his hand before leaning down to kiss her softly. It was a simple, sweet kiss, a good night kiss. Like most goodnight kisses it was over before it began. "Now get in that bed and get some rest." He said as he pulled back.

Clara looked over to the bed and then back to Daryl. "We could always…you know…share it." She said shyly. "I mean I know you have to work tomorrow and that way we'd both be able to rest good. Nobody ever sleeps all that good on a couch." She rambled.

Daryl looked at Clara and then back over to the bed. He'd never really given much thought to sharing it with someone. In fact he'd never really brought a woman back here, the ones he'd been with he always went with them back to their place. It had always been a mutual thing, he knew that generally most women were more comfortable in their own surroundings and he was able to split as soon as they were done. He hadn't really even given it much thought to the fact that after barely knowing Clara he'd rolled the welcome mat out to her. It was then that he really and truly realized that even though he barely knew her she mattered to him. "You sure?" he asked.

She nodded, "I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't."

They were quiet as they finished getting ready for bed. While Clara pulled the blankets back on the bed and slid between the sheets, Daryl shucked his boots, his belt and the sleeveless button he'd been wearing leaving him only in his jeans and wife beater. Once he was done he set down on the edge of the bed then slowly slid into it. Clara wasn't sure how Daryl didn't hear her heart hammering against her ribcage when he slid into bed with her. Slowly she rolled over to face him, the slivery light of the moon shown into the window giving enough light for her to see his face. What she saw there was in a lot of ways a comfort, he was just as nervous as she was. Slowly, she reached up and ran her fingertips over the side of his face before leaning in to kiss him.

Daryl groaned before pulling back, "Clara…sweetheart…this thing…it don't gotta happen tonight."

She couldn't help but feel the slight sting of rejection as she nodded her head. "Okay." She said.

"It's not that I don't want to…it's just that you were upset and I want this to be about us not you feeling like you have some sorta obligation to do it." He said. Truth be told he was still nervous about the idea of being her first. He knew that it was something that held weight it meant something. Even as he thought it he realized that she meant something.

"I don't feel obligated, Daryl." She said looking up at him.

Daryl looked down at her pushing her hair from her face before kissing her again, his tongue slowly swept into her mouth as his arm slipped around her pulling her soft body flush against his. He could feel her heart pounding against her breast and that was enough to excite him just a little more. Slowly he pulled back and looked down at her, he didn't say anything as he started undoing the buttons of her shirt before pushing it over her shoulders. He pulled away long enough to pull his wife beater over his head wanting to feel the warmth from her body against his. Clara's heart going a mile a minute and her eyes were locked with Daryl's she was afraid that if she looked away from him she'd realize that none of this was actually happening. That she'd somehow wake up and she'd be in her own bed and that all of this had just been a dream. She didn't want it to be a dream, she wanted, for once in her life to feel something other than pain and sadness. Daryl made her feel that way.

His eyes swept over her slowly taking in every inch of her, "Yer so fuckin' beautiful, Clara." He said his voice husky as he ran his hand up her side and cupped one of her firm breasts.

"So are you Daryl." She closed her eyes and moaned softly when his thumb brushed her erect nipple.

Daryl decided to let her little blunder slide, he knew that she'd eventually learn that there was nothing beautiful about him and that when she did she'd take off and find someone better. While he knew that he'd do everything in his power to make her change her mind he didn't want to have that conversation just then. He looked up at her watching her face as he leaned down and took her nipple into his mouth. He couldn't help but feel a little smug when the soft hiss of pleasure escaped her lips and when her hips instinctively pressed against him.

Clara closed her eyes as soft whimpers of pleasure escaped her lips; she'd never had anything feel as good as the soft touches and caresses Daryl was giving her. She sank her hand in his soft hair holding him against her as her hips pressed against him. As much as she liked what he was doing to her she couldn't help but feel frustrated…she wasn't exactly sure what she needed…she just knew she needed more.

Daryl groaned when she grinded against him, he knew that he needed to take his time with this but the innocence of her movements against him was enough to drive him completely wild. He grabbed her by her hip and pressed her firmly against his hard cock, "Is that what you need sweetheart?" he asked.

Clara gasped as she looked up at him their eyes locking, "Y-yes." She stammered.

"Soon." He promised before pushing her panties over her hips and sliding his hand between her legs and groaning when he felt how wet she was. "We gotta…get you ready first." He his fingertip teasing her clit, he watched the pleasure cross her face before he leaned down to once again feast on her breasts. Clara's back arched and she sobbed in pleasure as Daryl teased and tormented her body with pleasure. She loved the way he touched her and how good his hands and mouth felt running all over her. In all the years she'd listened to Sadie's sex stories she'd never believe that anything could be this good. She felt something deep down in the pit of her belly it was like an inferno slowly building and when Daryl slid his finger ever slowly into her she erupted into what felt like flames. She arched off of the bed her hot cream pouring over his hand.

Daryl didn't give Clara a chance to come down from her orgasm as he quickly rid himself of his jeans and came over top of her and slowly he began to slid into her wet heat. Clara looked up at him as his body slowly stretched her own, while she wasn't in pain from it she could honestly said it wasn't exactly what she was feeling before. "Easy." She said.

"I'll make it better." Daryl promised as he pushed the rest of the way into her claiming her virginity.

Clara bit down on his shoulder as the brief pain shot through her body, "I'm okay." She said.

Daryl knew that he'd hurt her and he felt like a complete ass for it even though he knew it was inevitable. He sank his hand in her long hair and leaned down and kissed her slowly his tongue thrusting into her mouth as his hips started moving against her. It wasn't long before the pleasure won out and the pain was a distant memory. He leaned back and rested his forehead against hers, he watched her as he took her slowly.

Daryl couldn't get enough of the way her body felt pulsing around his, she felt fucking amazing. Being with her, it was different than being with other women. With them the sex it was all about one thing mutual satisfaction, he got in he got out. While he was sure that they'd had no trouble getting off that hadn't been something he'd been overly concerned about. With Clara he'd discovered something new that he got just as much satisfaction in giving her pleasure as he did from receiving it. He loved the fact that that she was so responsive to him that she met him thrust for thrust. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to last much longer Daryl slid his hand between their bodies and started teasing her. When he felt her body tighten around him like a vise and her hot cream pour over him her buried himself inside of her spilling his seed.

Slowly Daryl rolled off of Clara and pulled her firmly into his arms before kissing her softly, "You okay?" he asked pulling back.

Clara nodded as she looked up at him her breathing labored her eyelids heavy. "My brain is all foggy."

Daryl couldn't help but feel a little smug, "Sleep sweetheart." He said.

"Mhmm." Clara purred already drifting to sleep.


	11. Chapter 11: Afterglow

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it. Originally this chapter was part of chapter 10, when I was reading back over things it just seemed appropriate chapter 10 to be its own thing.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Afterglow**

Clara wasn't surprised when she woke the next morning to realize that Daryl had already gotten up. She took her time sliding out of the bed and pushed her hair over her shoulder. Her body was still tender from their love play last night. While she knew that Marissa would probably give her shit for sleeping with Daryl after having just met him she couldn't bring herself to be ashamed of it. What they'd shared the night before it was perfect and she knew that it had been right. She just hoped that he felt the same. She leaned over and picked up her discarded clothes and quickly dressed as she turned around she caught a glimpse of her crazy hair in the mirror above Daryl's dresser. "Oh no…Not good." She muttered to herself before she tried to smooth it down into some semblance of normalcy only to finally give up in the end. Once she was done she walked out of the bedroom and was overwhelmed by the smell of coffee and bacon. "I'm in heaven." She purred softly as she walked over to him.

Daryl looked down at Clara giving her a tender look before leaning down to kiss her softly. Had anyone told him before now that he'd enjoy this almost domestic setting he probably would have told them that they were full of shit. Seeing her there, her hair all over the place and wearing his shirt it felt like she belonged there. "Breakfast is almost done." He said.

Clara nodded; "Okay…I'm gonna…" she nodded towards the bathroom.

"Alright it will be waiting on you." He said kissing her again.

Daryl knew that he probably should have warned her that Merle would be there at any minute. There was something that held him back; maybe it was subconsciously another test. He needed to see how she handled the oldest Dixon, after all for better or worse Merle was family and he'd always be around.

"I hope you don't mind me borrowing this." Clara said gesturing to his flannel she was wearing over her jeans.

"Looks better on you anyway," Daryl shrugged as he poured her a cup of coffee. "I don't have any of that girly shit to go in it."

"Just whiskey?" Clara teased before taking a drink from the cup as she leaned against the counter.

"Too early for that," Daryl grinned as he carried the plate of bacon over to the table and then joined her.

"Now what do we have here?" Merle asked in his boisterous voice as he walked into the kitchen and set down at the small table across from Clara. "This is downright cozy."

"It was." Daryl agreed then looked over to Clara, "That's my brother Merle."

"How you doin', Goldilocks?" Merle asked giving Clara an intense stare.

"Caffeine deprived and starving." Clara said as she finished making her plate. She knew that by the way Merle was watching her that he was trying to intimidate her. She had no idea of letting him have that satisfaction. Because he was Daryl's family she wanted the older man to like her but that didn't mean she was going to just roll over and let him push her around either. "And you are looking slightly hung over."

"I've had worse, it was kind of you to inquire 'bout it though." Merle said forking several pieces of bacon onto his plate. "So what the hell is a pretty little thing like you doin' with an ugly son of a bitch like my brother?"

"Well I just figured ugly bastards like you were just out of my league." Clara said sweetly as she popped a piece of bacon into her mouth.

Merle gave her a hard look before a throaty laugh escaped his lips, "You got spunk, Goldilocks."

Daryl grinned as he looked over at Clara. He couldn't help but feel slightly relieved when he heard his brother laugh. Merle had always been a loose cannon and he never knew how the man was going to react to something but so far things were going pretty good. He just hoped they continued down that path.

After breakfast Clara headed out, she knew that Daryl and his brother had to get their things together to work and she'd only be in the way. She knew that it was late enough in the morning that Ed would already be gone to work and he wouldn't be able to ambush her as soon as she walked into the door. She knew that it was probably coming but she intended to push it off as long as she possibly could. When she walked into the house, Carol was sitting on the couch watching the news. It was part of her normal routine when she came home from working the night shift. Even though she knew she needed to go to bed she needed time to wind down. "You just comin' in?" Carol asked when Clara walked into the house.

She nodded as she walked into the living room and set down on the couch. "I fell asleep at Marissa's." she said with a shrug.

Carol nodded, even though she knew that her daughter was lying to her she'd decided long ago that sometimes you just didn't want to know the truth. "Did you have a good time?"

She nodded, "I did." Her eyes drifted to the TV. "So what's going on in the world?"

"The usual: terrorist attacks in the Middle-East, some company trying to screw over another, Government trying to infringe on our rights, oh and some new flu strand or something is making people sick." Carol said.

"New strand of N1H1?" Clara asked settling in beside of her mom.

"They have said yet. So far it's not wide spread I think they're trying to nip it in the bud before that happens. They have three people in quarantine in Indiana." Carol said. "They said you run a really high fever and have delusions. So far they've been able to treat it lower the fever some but they haven't been able to get rid of it. The CDC hasn't released a statement about it yet but they're working on it."

Clara frowned, "That doesn't sound too good." She hated the fact that her mother worked at the hospital anyway even if it was just data entry that she did.

"Don't worry Clara," Carol patted her daughter's arm. "Indian is three states away I'm sure that they'll get it taken care of before it spreads too far."

"I just worry is all." She laid her head against her mother's shoulder.

* * *

Merle and Daryl were pulling their equipment out of the storage shed at Mrs. O'Neil's house. Even though the sky was overcast and grey they'd decided to try to squeeze in as much work that day as they could before the storm fully rolled in. They still had some work to do on the old lady's roof that they hadn't be able to finish up the day before. "So you're putting the wood to her now." Merle said he propped the ladder against the side of the house.

"Huh?" Daryl asked absently as he fumbled with his tool belt.

"Yer girl, Goldilocks you're puttin' the wood to her?" Merle said again as he made sure the ladder was stable before climbing to the roof.

"The fuck you talkin' about Merle?" Daryl asked. He knew his brother was going to give him shit about Clara being there that morning and the cozy slightly domestic scene that he'd broken up. He'd just been basking in the afterglow that he hadn't expected it in that moment.

"Are you fuckin' the girl or not?" Merle asked slower, he knew that his brother was but he wanted to hear it from him.

"Not sure why the fuck that would be your business." Daryl said. "She ain't like that."

Merle nodded, "She seems alright in my book, got a mouth on her." He laughed.

"Yeah she does." Daryl said.

Merle ran his hand over his thinning hair, "Look ain't telling you what to do here. It ain't my place, but you need to watch out with that one."

"Is this gonna be another one of your scraping off the boot heals talks?" Daryl asked getting annoyed.

Merle shook his head, "It's a 'her pa will probably try to kill you if he ever found out' talk."

"Some bitch can try you know ain't nobody can kill a Dixon but a Dixon." Daryl shrugged. "He ain't nothin' but a bully."

Merle nodded, "He smack her around like he does her mama?"

"She ain't said it but I think so." Daryl said, "Ain't seen no bruises on her but…somethin' ain't right."

"Maybe-" Merle paused knowing that what he was going to say would probably push his brother over the edge but someone had to say it. "Maybe he's putting the wood to her."

If looks could kill Merle probably would be dead. Daryl started to tell Merle that up until last night Clara had been a virgin there was part of him that just didn't feel right talking about her like that. "She said…that he ain't-" he didn't finish. He couldn't bring himself to the idea of that alone was enough to make him see red.

"If you were her would you tell someone your daddy was diddyin' you?" Merle raised an eyebrow. "Use your head son."

"I'll kill that son of a bitch if he is." Daryl said, he never raised his voice in fact it was cold and completely even.

Then Merle said something that shocked the shit out of Daryl, "I'll help ya bury the body."

* * *

Marissa parked her car on the street in front of Mrs. O'Neil's house. She'd talked to Clara earlier that day and knew that she'd be out running errands for most of the afternoon. It was for the best because she knew that Clara would probably shit a brick if she knew what her best friend was up to. Still she felt like it was important and both Sadie and Kevin agreed with her. She climbed out of her car and nodded to the old lady who was sitting on the front porch as she pushed opened the small wooden gate that in closed the small flower garden in the back of the house. As she came around to where Daryl was working she could hear the loud mechanical sound of the circle saw buzzing and the grinding of it cutting into wood. She covered her ears trying to protect them from the loud sound and waited until he stopped cutting. "Hey Daryl do you have a minute?" she asked as the man finally looked up at her.

Daryl frowned when he saw the redhead from the bar. "Is everything alright…Clara-"

Marissa shook her head, "No Clara's fine I just…kinda needed to talk to you about her."

He frowned as he laid the saw down; he called to Merle to let him know that he was taking a break and walked out of the yard with the girl. "What's goin' on?"

"I just…I need to know how serious you are about Clara." She said.

Daryl frown his arms crossing over his chest. "What's it any business of your's?"

"She's my best friend and I worry about her." She said. "There are things about Clara you don't know about."

"Like that her bastard father smacks her around?" Daryl asked getting more pissed off by the moment.

"Did she tell you that?" Marissa asked she couldn't help but feel a bit of hurt that her friend would open up to someone she barely knew.

He shook his head, "She didn't have to."

She nodded, "I think there's more to it than just that. I've known her since we were pretty much in diapers and she's never talked to me about it. I think Ed-"

"I know." Daryl cut her off. He couldn't explain it but he couldn't handle hearing it from someone else back to back. He was still trying to process the conversation he'd had about Clara with his brother. He barely knew this bitch and he couldn't handle it from her too.

"Can you handle that?" she asked. "I mean you seem like a nice guy from everything that Clara has told me but I'm scared of what he would do to her if he ever found out about it."

"I'll protect her." Daryl said.

"No offense, but you live on the other side of town. You can't always be around." Marissa said.

"I just don't understand why she'd put up with this shit." Daryl said.

"Sophia…I think she thinks she has to protect her." Marissa said.

Daryl nodded, it had been a long time since he'd thought about how he and Merle had grown up. His brother was almost 12 years his senior and from the time he could remember Merle was always in an out of trouble. Though he'd never said it, Daryl knew it had been his brother's way of getting way from their abusive son of a bitch father. Most people would never understand how juvie could possibly be better than home but Daryl did. During the times that Merle was gone Daryl took twice as much abuse as what Merle had. He never knew exactly why his father hated him and Merle so much, part of him wished that the old man would confess his reasons on his death bed but he died without saying anything. He wondered if things would have been different if Merle would have stuck around tried to protect him when he was a kid instead of leaving him to fend for himself. Even now all these years later he and Merle never talked about the things they had gone through. He knew what a bitter asshole that turned you into. "You think I should end it with her." Daryl said.

"I think you need to think about what's best for Clara." Marissa said.

"Why don't you mind your own goddamn business." Daryl snapped before walking around the side of the house and nearly plowing into his brother. "Yer an idiot if you listen to her." Merle said before walking away from him.

* * *

When Clara made it back home the sky was almost black the clouds were heavy with rain that had yet to fall. In the distance lightening crashed followed by a loud boom. There was something almost electric in the air as she climbed from her Jeep and opened the hatch which was loaded down with groceries. She knew the rain would start any minute and the last thing she wanted was to be caught out in it. Still when Daryl came around the side of Mrs. O'Neil's house she quickly forgot the storm and walked over to where he was at. "Packin' it up for the day?" she asked as she leaned up and kissed him softly.

Daryl nodded, "Why don't you grab your stuff come back out for the night?" he asked looking down at her with that intense stare of his.

"I can't, Mama's gone to work Ed won't be back for a few hours and someone has to get Sophia off of the bus." She explained.

"When she gets in then you can bring her with you." he said. He just couldn't help shake this feeling that he had deep down in his gut. This feeling that something was gonna happen, maybe it was all the talk he had with Merle and Marissa that had him that was making him feel like this. Maybe it was the storm brewing over head.

Clara frowned, "Daryl what's wrong?"

"I don't have a good feelin' okay." He said cupping her cheek.

She nodded as she looked up at him. "When Sophia gets in I'll head out to your place."

"Good." He leaned down and kissed her softly before heading back over to his truck.

Clara watched as he pulled away from the house before grabbing the bags and heading into the house.

* * *

Ed had been parked on the street watching the whole exchange between Clara and Daryl. He couldn't believe that little treacherous bitch had betrayed him like that. She was his fucking property apparently she just didn't fucking understand that. He was still more than a little pissed off that she blew him off the night before and it was the reason he'd come home early he figured she'd want to make it up to him. He'd had a feeling that she'd been fucking around with someone behind his back but to have her fuck around with one of those inbreed piece of shit redneck bastards was just more than he could wrap his mind around. Hell, if she was fucking one of them she was probably fucking them both. Unable to bottle his anger up anymore he pulled into the driveway and walked into the house.


	12. Chapter 12: Fear

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it. So I couldn't leave you all just hanging like that it would have been cruel and evil. I just want to throw out there that the previous chapter had a totally different ending and it's one that you would have hated me for had I gone with it. The reason I scrapped it was because when I read back over everything together the flow didn't seem to match the rest of the story. **To piratejessieswaby and** **FanFicGirl10: ** I really feel the need to defend my girl Marissa's actions. She wasn't being nosy she was looking out for her friend and she has just reason to. She never told Daryl that he needed to break up with Clara she really didn't even hint at it. Daryl just assumed that she meant that he should break up with her. And yes the story will go into season one and on ward. **To PeacefulDuck: **Well strap on your seatbelt because your hatred will probably multiply to loathing after this. **To Dalonega Noquisi**: It was part of my evil diabolical plan to lead you all into a false sense of security before letting the shit hit the fan. **To tatizarias:** I'm sorry if I gave you a heart attack. I didn't 'decide' to end the chapter there…the chapter just ended there. **To Rea Josette: **If you think about it…she's been dealing with Ed her whole life so handling Merle is just a cake walk compared to what she's been through. To be honest I've never seen Merle as a bad guy…well maybe season 1 Merle but even then I loved the character. Even then we really didn't get too much of a look at him as far as his personality goes except small tidbits you got from Daryl. I've never saw Merle as a villain or a bad guy, I see him as someone who's only ever been given the opportunity to be bad.

* * *

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

**Chapter 12: Fear**

After putting the groceries away Clara went upstairs to grab a quick shower before it was time to get Sophia from the bus stop. She quickly dressed in her royal blue and white polka dot sun dress; she took her time applying her makeup and left her hair down around her shoulders letting it dry on its own. It was as she was grabbing her white ballet flats she saw her guitar sitting in the back of her closet. With everything that had gone on in the past few days she hadn't really had much of a chance to play. Deciding to throw caution into the wind she pulled it out of her closet and shut the door. As soon as she did she saw her father standing at her bedroom door, his big frame blocking it. "D-dad." She said her voice trembling as she took a step back from him her hand tightening on the neck of the guitar. "I wasn't-mama said you'd be working late." She said.

"The storm coming I figured it would be a good idea to get back and make sure you and Sophia were take care of." He said walking on into the room.

Clara nodded, "It looks like it's gonna be a good one."

"You know what I saw when I pulled up here?" he asked.

"Since there's a storm coming…lightening?" she asked.

"Cute…you always been a goddamn smartass. I saw you letting that redneck piece of shit put his hands on you." He said. "I really should have hit you more, then maybe you'd learn not to defy me. Worked for your mama." He closed the distance between them and jerked her guitar from her hand and smashed against the post of her canopy bed.

"Daddy please no!" Clara sobbed as she watched the shards of her most valued possession fall to the ground.

Ed grabbed Clara by her shoulders and slammed her up against the wall before punching her in the ribs hard enough to knock the breath out of her. "No you listen to me…and you listen real good. All your rebellion bullshit is done, I've been too fucking lenient with you and that's on me. But you're gonna learn that what I say goes not whatever bullshit they tell you at your fancy school. You ain't nothin' more but some little slut that's so purpose is to make me feel good you, understand? You'll stop seeing those redneck pieces of shit too." He shoved her onto the floor and started kicking her over and over in her ribs causing her to cry out in pain each time.

Clara tried to crawl away with no luck, Ed jerked her from the floor and shoved her down on her bed. "You're mine." He wrest her onto her back and fisted his hand in her hair jerking her head back so she was looking him in his eyes. "Now give your daddy a kiss."

* * *

Sophia's clothes were soaked through as she unlocked the front door of the house and she was angry. She knew that there was something going on with Clara, ever since her older sister had come back home from school she'd been acting funny. While the summers before she'd always taken Sophia out to do different things this was different. Like how Clara had taken her out every night and how she always wanted Sophia to spend the night at her friend's houses and stuff. She knew that it had to do with what she'd told her sister over Christmas break and she was starting to wonder if she should have told her at all. After she stomped her way upstairs and pounded on her sister's bedroom door, "I'm telling mama you forgot me!" she yelled through the door.

The moment Ed's mouth crashed down on her she felt nausea flow through her with the likes of which she'd never felt before. It felt like an eternity since Daryl had last kissed her how good the day had begun, everything had been perfect and then his happened. She knew what was going to happen if she didn't stop her father. She tried to claw at his face with her nails but Ed grabbed her wrist and slammed it down against the headboard "It would be best if you just set back and enjoyed the ride." He growled before slapping her hard with his other hand.

"Daddy please!" Clara pleaded with him. "Don't do this!"

Ed leaned down his stale breath made Clara's stomach roll even more, "I ain't your daddy…your slut mama was knocked up when I married her ass." He said as he jerked the skirt of her dress up and started to fumble with his belt buckle. "Now I'm gonna claim what's mine! What's always been mine!"

Clara didn't know if what he was saying was true or not but there was something about him saying that that made her feel relief even in that situation. Her attention was snapped back to the bastard when she felt his hand grip her thigh shoving it onto the mattress. With all of his ministrations at trying to rape her he'd forgotten to hold her down. She took the opportunity to slam her fist as hard as she could in Ed's face. He growled and slapped her again across the face busting her lip as he did. When she heard Sophia pounding on her door she knew that she had to put an end to this as soon as she could she had to get away. She was afraid that in the state that Ed was in that he was so angry with her that he'd do something to Sophia too. Clara reached up over her head and grabbed the first thing her hand came in contact with, what was left of her guitar handle. She swung it as hard as she could smashing him in the face with it. It was enough to stun Ed which was all she needed. She wiggled from under him and grabbed the hoodie that was on the end of her bed and her keys. She jerked the door opened and grabbed her sister by the hand and drug he away. "We have to go now." Clara said as she quickly pulled the jacket on over her ripped dress and zipped it up.

"It's storming." Sophia protested. She was still in shock from what she'd saw the mess in her sister's room and their father laying there on the floor his pants undone. She knew that he'd done something to her sister…something bad.

"Sophia trust me." Clara said.

Sophia looked up at her sister and then nodded, "Where are we gonna go?"

"Some place safe." Clara replied.

It wasn't until Clara was outside on the wet ground that she realized that somewhere during the struggle she'd managed to lose her shoes. Knowing that there was no time to go back and get them now she ran with Sophia to her car and helped her sister inside. Both she and the little girl were soaked through clear to their skin. She knew that her sister had to be scared as hell. "It's gonna be okay." Clara said to Sophia she reached over and took her sister's hand.

* * *

Daryl was pacing back and forth in his living room, he'd been expecting Clara an hour ago but she still hadn't managed to show. He couldn't give over the visceral feeling that something was gonna happen, or was happening. "That ain't gonna help none." Merle said watching his brother from the easy chair.

"Somethin' ain't right…I shouldn't have left her." Daryl said. Unable to handle it any longer he grabbed his keys from the coffee table, "I'm goin' to go get her." He said.

"She probably just got held up doing girl shit." Merle shrugged it off.

"Merle would you fucking trust me on this one?" Daryl asked. Before he could make it to the door someone came up his drive way like hell on wheels. He couldn't explain the relief he felt when he saw Clara's navy Jeep. Of course all of that relief was washed away when he saw the condition she was in when she climbed out of the car with her sister. "Fuck!" Daryl growled when he jerked the door opened. "Get some fucking towels Merle." He snapped at his brother.

"Do I look like your bitch?" his brother asked but the comment died in his mouth when he saw Clara and Sophia. "The fuck happened?" he asked.

Clara had never felt more relieved in her life when she saw Daryl it was then that she finally let the flood of tears she'd been trying to hold back for Sophia's sake come forward. Daryl closed the distance between them and without a second thought he swept Clara up into his arms. "I got you girl." He said against her hair as he carried her into to the house with the little girl at their heels. He didn't in the living room instead carried her straight to the bedroom.

* * *

Sophia frowned as she followed Daryl into the house. She knew that they shouldn't be there; she stood by the door making no move to go any further into the house. "Hey Speck why don't you come in here and set down?" Merle asked her holding a towel out.

Sophia gave Merle a weary look, "You're bad men me and Clara shouldn't be here." She said. "And my name is Sophia not Speck."

Merle grinned down at the little girl, "We are bad men." He agreed, "But you and your sister are safe here we ain't gonna hurt'cha. And you're a Speck cause you ain't no bigger than a speck of dirt. Now you need to come on in and get dry 'for yerself a cold and your nose swells up."

Sophia wasn't sure what to think of the man but so far he seemed okay. Slowly she took the towel from him and walked on into the livingroom. "Thank you Mr. Dixon." She said.

Merle gave the little girl a tender look, kid seemed alright in his book, "It's just plain old Merle." He said before clearing his throat. He wasn't used to having people calling him 'Mister' for that matter they generally yelled his name followed by a shitload of explanatives. He knew the girl had to be chilled to the bone and with the storm settling in the night would be cooler. "You ever made a fire before?" he asked.

Sophia shook her head, "We have a gas fire at our house. My Granny and Pop-Pop has a real fireplace but Granny says that if you play with the fire you'll pee the bed."

Merle laughed at the girls' blunt honesty, "Well you and me are gonna make a fire and I promise you won't wet the bed tonight. Hell I bet Daryl even has some 'mallows in his cubboards somewhere. He always did have a sweet tooth."

Sophia's eyes lit up, "I love roasted marshmallows."

* * *

Daryl carefully set Clara down on the bed when he did the skirt of Clara's dress bunched up and he saw the hand shaped black bruise on her thigh. His vision went red, "Did he?"

Clara shook her head, "No," she said, "He tried but I stopped him."

He nodded, "Let's get you out of these wet clothes." He unzipped her hoodie.

Before Clara had a chance to clutch the folds of the jacket closed Daryl saw the front of her dress ripped opened almost to the waist and bruises and scratches that covered her smooth skin. It was then that the famous Dixon Temperament over took him. Without another word he stood up and walked out of the room storming past Merle and Sophia who were in front of the fireplace putting wood into it.

Merle frowned when he saw his brother, "I'll be back in a minute Speck." He said before following his brother outside. "That help any?" he asked as his brother slammed his fists several times against one of the pillars on the porch before kicking it for good measure.

"I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch." Daryl snarled at his brother, his voice was full of emotion and Merle knew his brother was close to tears.

"Did he rape her?" he asked trying to keep his own temper in check.

"She said he didn't." he said. "She's got bruises...if he didn't he got pretty damn close."

Merle grabbed his brother by his shoulders, "You go in there and you take care of your woman. There'll be time later to deal with this shit. Right now…you need to be a man."

Daryl looked away from his brother, his gut reaction was to point out that Dixon's didn't know how to be mean they were just ornery sons of bitches but he held it back. He didn't say anything he nodded at his brother and walked back into the house. He nodded to Sophia before walking back into the bedroom. HE frowned when he saw Clara leaned up against the headboard her arms wrapped around her middle the hoodie clutched tightly around her. He grabbed one of shirts from his dresser before he walked over to the bed and set down with her. "I'm sorry."

Clara took his hand in her own and studied the cuts on his knuckles from where he'd hit the wooden pillar. "Feel better?" she asked.

Daryl shook his head, "Not really." He said. "We need to get you into some dry clothes get you cleaned up. Don't want you to get sick." Clara nodded as she started to pull the hoodie off, "You want me to turn around?" he asked.

She shook her head, "It's nothing you haven't already seen." She pointed out.

Daryl thought back to the night before, it seemed like a million years had passed between that moment and this one. His heart broke for the pain she was going through when she stood up and tried to push what was left of the dress over her hips. "Let me help you." He said gently.

The moment Clara felt Daryl's hands on her hips her whole body instinctively went rigid. She knew he felt it and the look in his eyes said that it had hurt him. "It's not you." She said looking up at him.

He nodded, "You know I would *never* hurt you like this right?" he asked.

"I know." She said. "It's why I'm here. The only thing that I could think while it was happening was that I needed to get here to you cause then I'd be safe." She her voice cracked as tears pooled her eyes.

Daryl wrapped his arms around her pulling her against his chest. "I won't ever let this happen to you again." He promised.


	13. Chapter 13: Playing with Fire

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it. **To Micaela Beth Winchester: **I write this stuff as it comes to me so when the chapters are posted they're coming to you fresh off of the press. Believe it or not between punching out the last two chapters I cleaned my living room and kitchen and done three loads of laundry. As for wanting Ed to die violently don't we all, I remember the first time I saw him on the show, he just gave me the creeps. **To BeingLolaStar:** I'm glad that you liked the Merle/Sophia interaction. I could see that whole scene play out in my head. It was just something very sweet and I think with everything bad that happened in the last chapter it kinda broke up it up. I'm also glad that you're liking how I'm portraying Merle as well. I think that out of a lot of the stories that are on the website your Merle is what kinda think of as the authority on Merle. I really get tired of seeing the stories where he's this evil bastard who wants to hurt Daryl's woman. I've never seen him in that light, sure he can be a ruthless bastard and all but yeah. I've always enjoyed the way you've wrote him. **To Rea Josette and FanFicGirl10:** I can promise you that Ed *will* get what he deserves. **To sarabear91:** Need I remind you that he was slowly eaten by She-Walkers on the show. I mean that was pretty gruesome in its own right. And there was definitely come karmic retribution there. He treats women bad he gets eaten by them. I can honestly say that I'm not exactly sure what is going to happen to Ed but it was be fitting with the way he lived. To Edy12345: I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. I guess that means that I'm doing my job if I made you cry. It makes me feel good to create characters that people are able to emotionally relate to. **To my Guest Reviewer:** So if you're little morbid for looking forward to this chapter I guess that means that I'm a whole lot morbid for writing it. **To loveorpain and piratejessieswaby:** Thank you so much for your reviews.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

* * *

**Chapter 13: Playing With Fire**

A little while later Daryl walked out of the bedroom the broken skin covering his knuckles was stretched tightly over his clenched fists. He'd never felt the helpless feeling that had as he helped Clara change out of her ripped clothing and into the old button down shirt he'd gotten for her to change into. Once he was able to do that he was able to take in everything that prick bastard done to her. What concerned him the most was the left side of her body. He had but to look at her to know what Ed done to her, he'd kicked her over and over while wearing a pair of steel toed boots. When he tried to check her to see if she had any broken ribs she'd cried out in pain he wasn't able to continue. Finally he gave her some Tylenol, the only thing he had lying around and left her alone.

When Merle saw his brother walk out of the bedroom, he excused himself from Sophia before walking into the kitchen. "How she doin'?" Merle asked.

Daryl shook his head, "She's in a bad way, I think she has some broken ribs but she won't let me take her to the hospital." He said.

Merle ran his hand over his face as he looked around the kitchen then back to his brother, "We could always make her."

Daryl shook his head; "She's been through enough." he said then looked over at Sophia who was eating a char coated marshmallow off of a stick. "How's she doin'?"

He shrugged, "Kid seems okay, she was scared when we first got here but I got her distracted good."

Daryl nodded, "I need a favor."

"Gimme ten minutes I can get the shovels." he said.

Daryl grinned a little but shook his head, "She's in a lot of pain, her side where he kicked her it's black I ain't got nothing stronger than Tylenol here."

Merle knew that Clara had to be pretty bad off if Daryl was asking for that kind of help. While his baby brother knew about his professional and personal pursuits in the wide world of pharmaceuticals he'd never brought it up before. "I got some painkillers at home."

"Thanks." Daryl said.

"She need anything else?" he asked. "I know she weren't wearing no shoes."

Daryl shook his head, "Marissa is bring her and Sophia some things."

"Shouldn't be gone long," After making his excuses to Sophia, Merle headed out to get the drugs for Clara. Daryl stood in the kitchen for a few minutes letting everything sink in and process. Finally he walked into the living room and set down on the floor beside of Sophia. He picked up the stick Merle had abandoned and stuck a couple of the marshmallows on it before holding it over the fire.

Sophia looked up at the younger Dixon, "So…are you Clara's boyfriend?" she asked breaking the silence.

Daryl almost dropped the stick into the fire. "I um…I'm not sure." He said looking down at her.

"I think you are." Sophia said in a matter of a fact voice. "I mean Clara she's never had a boyfriend before but when she was hurt she came here even though Daddy said that you and Merle were bad."

"You think me and Merle are bad?" Daryl asked turning his marshmallow on the fire.

"Merle said that you were but he said that me and Clara were safe here too." She said taking a bite of her marshmallow. "Even if you are bad, you're not as bad as what my daddy is."

Daryl frowned as he pulled his marshmallow off of the fire and blew the flame that had engulfed it out. "He ain't never hurt you as he?" he asked.

Sophia thought about it for a few seconds than shook her head, "Not like he tried to hurt Clara." She said softly.

"Did you see what he did to Clara?" Daryl asked.

Sophia shook her head as her eyes filled up with tears, "No I only saw him with his pants down before Clara pulled me away."

"That was good of Clara." He said choking down the bile rising in his throat. "You know that it ain't right for a daddy to be like that with his daughter right?"

Sophia nodded, "I know."

"Good." Daryl said, "Anyone tries to be with you like that you come tell me or Merle we'll set it right."

Sophia held her pinky out to him. "Promise?"

Daryl couldn't help but grin as he wrapped his pinky around the little girl's, "Promise."

Sophia held on to Daryl's finger and gave him a very stern look, "Now you gotta promise that you're gonna make her be happy again."

He looked down at their joined fingers, "Clara ain't happy?"

Sophia shook her head, "Clara lost her smile a long time ago."

Daryl nodded, "What do you think I can do to make her find it again?"

Sophia pursed her lips as if deep in thought, "Well she did say that frozen yogurt is the way to a girls' heart."

He laughed, "Frozen yogurt, I just need to buy a gallon of frozen yogurt?"

Sophia shook her head, "No you have to get it from the Purple Frog downtown. Her favorite flavor is coconut cream pie and she puts cinnamon toast crunch, almonds, white chocolate syrup, and maraschino cherries on it. That would make her smile."

"Your sister is a strange lady." He said shaking his head. "What else will make her smile?"

"Maybe…daddy he broke her guitar." She said. "Maybe you could get her a new one."

"I will see what I can do to make your sister have her smile back." He said finally releasing her pinky. "We should…probably get some real food in you. You gotta be starvin'."

Daryl was getting Sophia settled down at the table with a fried bologna sandwich and a glass of milk when he heard Marissa at the front door. "Hey," he said opening the front door.

"How is she?" she asked.

"She's restin'….tryin' to rest anyway." He said.

Marissa nodded as she shifted the weight of the duffle bag on her shoulder. "And Sophia?"

Daryl took the bag from her, "She's eatin'. Come on I'll take you to Clara."

"Thank you." She said.

Clara was curled up on her side her arms wrapped around one of the pillows. She looked so small laying there in the large bed. Daryl laid the duffle bag on the cedar chest that was at the end of his bed before walking over to her. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her temple, "Marissa is here Sweet-heart." He said. "Merle he went to find you somethin' to help he'll be back soon."

"Thank you." She said softly.

Marissa watched the way Daryl interacted with her best friend. She could tell just by his actions alone exactly how much this was eating him inside. "I'm gonna…let you two alone."

Once Daryl had walked out of the room, Marissa slipped her shoes off and lay down on the bed beside of Clara. She didn't say anything; she knew that right now pushing her to talk would probably do more harm than good. "Whitie and Sadie are on their way here into town." She said.

Clara frowned, as she tried to think of a reason their friends from college were going to go come to Marietta. After all Sadie hailed from Huntsville, Texas and Whitie was from some hole in the wall town in South Carolina. While she liked the idea the idea that they were coming she still couldn't reason why. "Why?"

"Well Sadie said if you were gonna shack up with someone redneck she needed to come and make sure he was housebroken. You know Whitie; he'll go anywhere Sadie and Kevin goes." Marissa explained, "I think that they're gonna do a road trip or something."

Clara started to smile but the pain in her jaw from where Ed had hit her kept her from it. "Sounds like them."

"I brought you and Sophia some clothes." Marissa said.

She frowned, "Did you go to my house?"

Marissa nodded, "Don't worry; I climbed the lattice into your room like we used to do in high school. From what I can tell the whole place is trashed. He's lost his shit."

Clara paled, "Mama…we can't let her go back home until he's cooled down some."

"We'll get it worked out." Marissa promised.

She nodded then took a deep breath, "You gonna ask me what happened?"

"I kinda…have a scenario worked out in my head." Marissa said. "Why don't I start and you can fill in the blanks with as little or as much detail as you want."

Clara nodded, "That's fair."

"Seeing as how I've known you for a long time, I've been privy to a lot of things. I know that he hurts your mama you told me that when we were kids. I know that you've always been scared of him but considering the first, well it's understandable. I know that because of him your mama tried not to get pregnant again after she had you because of how mean he can be…how am I doing so far?" Marissa asked.

"So far you're dead on." Clara said then remembered what Ed had told her. "He told me, that my mama was pregnant when they got married."

"I knew it!" Marissa said almost jumping off of the bed. "I knew there was no way he could be your father!"

Clara bit back a soft laugh at her best friend's excitement. "I don't know if it's true, I mean it could be his way of justifying what he was trying to do."

"The man looks like a bulldog his face is all squishy." Marissa said. "I mean you and your mama look alike but there is no Ed in you. None, I mean Sophia at least has his eye coloring. Anyway…let's see where were we."

"Mama not wanting anymore kids after me because Ed's a bastard." Clara offered.

"Right," Marissa said settling back against the headboard. "I don't think he ever hit you as much as he did your mama. I think he did some because there were a few times I remember some pretty bad bruises even though you said that you got them doing cross-country training. I think that he started doing stuff to you when we got in high school."

Clara just nodded as shame filled her eyes, "Pretty much." She said, she took Marissa's loophole out on this one. After everything that happened, she just couldn't bring herself to really talk about the atrocities that Ed put her through.

"I don't think today was the first time that he tried to rape you either." Marissa said.

She shook her head and closed her eyes trying to keep the tears from spilling from them. "When I was home at Christmas he tried."

Marissa felt like her heart was breaking for her best friend, "Then why did you go back?"

"Sophia asked me, the first night I was home if she could sleep in my room. She told me that Ed had started to come into her room. He hadn't touched her but he would watch her while she undressed." Clara explained.

Marissa covered her mouth with her hand, "Oh my god, he's sick! She's only 12 years old."

"She was 11 when it started." Clara said, "I just…I couldn't let her go through what I had."

Marissa nodded as she laid her head against Clara's shoulder, "You could have told me you know."

Clara shook her head, "I didn't want anyone to know…I still don't."

"Daryl he's….he's pretty worried about you." She said. "He seems like a really good guy."

"He's the best." She said softly. "He tried to get me to come back with him this afternoon when he was leaving Mrs. O'Neil's he said he had a bad feeling. I should have listened to him, Ed saw us kissing and that's what set him off. I think he suspected before that, you were right and I was too stupid to listen."

"Clara Annabelle Peletier there isn't a damn thing that's stupid about you!" Marissa scolded her, "Hell you're the reason me and Sadie haven't flunked out of college."

"Not feeling too smart right now and that has nothing to do with my stupidness." She said.


	14. Chapter 14: All Apologies

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

* * *

**Chapter 14: All Apologies **

Marissa walked out of the bedroom her arms crossed around her middle, having everything that she'd suspected over the years brought to light, it was a lot for her to wrap her mind around. Daryl was sitting on the couch staring intensely at the fire while Sophia flipped through channels on his TV. She knew that he was tore up over this whole thing and his bloodied knuckles was proof that he wanted nothing more than to hunt Ed down and kill the son of a bitch slowly.

As soon as he heard the bedroom door opened, Daryl was off of the couch, "How's she doin'?" he asked.

"She's talked about it a little; I think that maybe a shower would help." She said.

He nodded, "Merle should be back anytime he was getting her some painkillers." He gave Marissa a hard look, "You didn't hear that."

She held her hands up, "My best friend is in a lot of pain, I could care less where they come from as long as it helps her."

Daryl nodded as he ran his hand over his face, "Right."

"Look I know that you don't like me and that you think I was telling you to break up with Clara earlier-" she said.

"Don't…we're cool." He said. "I get what you were sayin'."

Before Marissa had a chance to say anything else the door pushed opened and Merle came inside he didn't say anything just tossed the bottle to his brother. "She'll need to eat with that else it will make her sick she ain't used to it. They're strong so it will knock her on her ass for a while."

Daryl nodded to his brother, "Thanks."

"I need to head out…go talk to Carol try to get her to see reason and go to her sister's house at least for the night. Clara is terrified she's going to go home and Ed will take this out on her." Marissa said then turned to Daryl, "You need anything….call me."

"Same goes." Daryl said. "You gonna need back up on that?"

"I can handle Carol." Marissa assured him before heading outside into the rain.

"Go take care of your girl, I got the Speck." Merle said to his brother.

When Daryl walked into the bedroom, he had a plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that Sophia had made for her sister and the bottle of pills. "Hey, easy don't move." Daryl said sitting the plate down on the table before helping her set up.

"Didn't realize it took so many muscles just to sit up," She said.

"Yeah well I got somethin' to help with that." He said sitting down beside of her on the edge of the bed. "I figure we get one of these inside of you." He held up the bottle of pills Merle had brought in, "And then we'll see about getting you a shower."

Clara nodded, "Sounds good."

"Merle said you needed to eat somethin' first though." He said handing her the plate with the sandwich on it. "Your sister made that for you."

Clara smiled a little as she looked at the sandwich. "It's what mama always makes us when we're sick." She said then looked up at Daryl, "Is she-"

"She's fine; Merle said she was pretty upset when y'all first got here. Merle he's really taken a shine to that little girl." Daryl said. "Taught her how to build a fire, they damn near at all my marshmallows between the pair o' them. Now they're hoggin' the TV."

"Your brother is playing nurse maid to my sister?" Clara asked nearly dropping the sandwich on the plae.

Daryl nodded, "She's in good hands. You ain't gotta worry about anything. Marissa went to get your mom."

"Is she bringing her back here?" she asked.

He shook his head, "Figure she wouldn't handle that very well. Said somethin' about makin' her go to her sister's house."

"That will be good…Aunt Karen put the fear of God into Ed a while back he won't cross her." Clara as she finished eating the sandwich.

Daryl took the plate and placed it on the table beside of him. He grabbed the bottle of pills and popped the top of it off and handed her one before grabbing the glass of milk he'd brought with him. "Let's get this in ya and we'll get you into the shower."

"Where did you get this?" she asked taking the pill from him and the glass of milk.

Daryl looked away debating on telling her the truth but decided against it. He was afraid that if she knew the truth about Merle she'd think of both the Dixon boys in the same light that most people did. He didn't think he could handle that from her. "Merle has connections." He said.

Clara nodded before popping the pill into her mouth and taking a long drink of the milk. "Thank you." She said handing him the empty glass.

"You up for this?" he asked.

Clara nodded, "I'd feel better."

Daryl nodded as he stood up, "You think you can walk it?"

She swung her legs over the side of the bed, she set there for a second before pushing herself up. She knew that Daryl was itching to just carry her to the bathroom but there was that stubborn side of her that needed to do it on her own. "I'm okay." She said as she grabbed the duffle bag at the end of the bed.

"I got this." He said taking it from her, "You just concentrate on getting you to the bathroom."

"Thank you Daryl." She said looking up at him.

"It ain't nothin'." He assured her.

Clara was pretty sure that sometime during that morning and in that moment the space between the bathroom and the bedroom had multiplied by about a thousand feet. She knew that it was hell for Daryl to have to watch and not do anything to help; she needed to prove to herself as well as him that she wasn't broken that she could handle this on her own. She smiled when she saw Merle and Sophia on the couch watching some tween sitcom on Nickelodeon. Clara knew that this was a novelty for her little sister, when Ed was home she wasn't allowed near the TV let alone the remote. It meant a lot too her, the time they were taking with Sophia. "Can you handle this?" Daryl asked as he helped her into the bathroom and turned the water on for her.

"Been doing this on my own for a while now." She teased.

"You know what I mean." He said cupping her cheek.

"I'll be fine…I leave the door unlocked just in case." She said.

"I'll be right outside the door if you need me." He leaned down and kissed her softly before walking out of the bathroom.

Clara stood there for a few seconds letting the room fill with steam before she started to undress. She climbed into the shower; the way the hot water beat down on her battered body was amazing.

Daryl had his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall beside of the bathroom door. He knew that he was probably being a bit on the ridicules side, hell all this shit was new to him. Growing up when he and Merle got their asses' beat they went off by themselves took care of their own wounds. Sometimes their mom would look after them but that was rare. He'd never felt that overwhelming need to help someone they way he did for Clara. Maybe it was because she was sweet and beautiful and when he was with her he didn't feel like a worthless piece of shit. He felt like someone, someone who deserved to be cared about. His attention was drawn back to the real world when he heard the shower shut off and then Clara softly call his name.

"You okay in there?" he asked his hand on the door knob.

"This is um…embarrassing but I need your help." She said.

Daryl pushed the door opened and walked into the steam filled bathroom. Under any other circumstances he might have had other ideas of what he could do with her. He had to take a deep breath when he saw the deep bruises that covered her skin. "What do you need me to do?" he asked.

"I can't bend over to put on my pajama pants." She said her cheeks turning red. She'd managed to get herself into her underwear at least. To make matters worse she'd lingered in the shower a little too long and the painkillers that she'd taken where starting to make her a little dizzy.

"These?" he asked picking up a pair of flannel pants that were covered in cartoon owls. When she nodded he kneeled down in front of her and carefully helped her step into them before sliding them up her legs. "You think you can handle me wrappin' those ribs for you?"

Clara nodded, "I think so, whatever it was Merle had in that bottle is amazing."

"I'll let him know that you approve of his drug choice." He grinned a little.

By the time that Daryl had gotten Clara's ribs wrapped and her pajama top on her, the drugs had really taken effect. She could barely stand let alone walk, carefully he lifted her into his arms and carried her into the bedroom and tucked her into bed. Once he was sure that she was going to be out for a while he climbed out of the bed and closed the door behind him. "She should be out for a while." Daryl said to his brother as he grabbed his keys from the table.

"Where are you goin'?" Merle asked.

"I'm gonna go pay that bastard a beating." Daryl said before walking out of the house the door slamming behind him.


	15. Chapter 15: Repercussions

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it. **To Micaela Beth Winchester: **I think as of right now It's safe to say that Daryl is very clear about his emotions and what's gonna happen with Ed. **To Rea Josette:** That is something that will definetly be coming back into play in the near future. **To GatorGirl99:** Merle and Marissa are definetly an interesting dynamic. They're actually surprising me a little myself, and yes shit it hitting the fan….good times.** To FanFicGirl10: **I think that Daryl and even Merle can be pretty sweet when they want to be. **To Dino-SOAR:** To answer the question that you had about Merle and Daryl's ages. I see Daryl being around 35ish and Merle being about 47ish, I hope that helps. **To sadiechick21:** Glad to be your heroin and I don't mean that in a Twilight way I mean it in a Papa Roach~Forever kinda way. **To Leyshla Gisel, Dalonega Noquisi, piratejessieswaby, Alina Maxwell, and loveorpain: **Thank you so much for your reviews.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Repercussions **

The twenty minute drive to Clara's house had done little to improve Daryl's disposition. If anything it severed only to cause his temper to boil over. Know that there was a chance that the man...no that was giving Ed a little too much credit for Daryl's peace of mind...rat that suited him more. Given that there was a small chance that the rat had left his home in search of greener pastures in the firm of liquid courage, Daryl had used the prepaid cell phone he kept in his glove box to do a round robin to all of the bars in town that Ed might frequent. Over the years he'd developed a pretty good standing with them if any other reason but because of the fact that Merle could be a rather rambunctious drunk. There had even been times that he'd done repairs for them free of charge because on occasion Merle liked to get a little destructive. So it went without saying that when Daryl made the calls letting them know that he was looking for Ed they took it seriously. It didn't take them long to get back to him about the rats where abouts. Daryl had no doubt that he was waiting on either Clara to come back or Carol to get off of work. The bastard was about to get one hell of rude awakening. Knowing that the truck pulling up in the drive would most definitely set him off he parked down the street and much like any other time he was hunting quietly blended into the shadows. Once he got onto the front porch he used the keys that he'd swiped from Clara's things and used them to let himself in.

Much like Marissa had told them, the place was a complete mess. When Clara got away from him he must have completely lost his shit. Sad part was Daryl knew that Carol would be the one who got blamed for everything and get the hell beat out of her for it.

Ed was in his easy chair he was on the second or was the third...case of beer. He was pissed as hell that the smart mouthed little bitch had gotten away from him. He'd been waiting on this for years, grooming her on what a man wanted. Wasn't often someone could raise the perfect whore from the time that she was born. Course that wasn't the reason he married Carol, the fact that she'd been pregnant at the time hadn't mattered much. The moment Clara was born though that's when his plan had started to form. Sure back then Carol had been just as beautiful as her daughter was now, but then she started slipping she cut all her hair off stopped making herself look good for him. Sure once he made Clara understand what her purpose in life was then everything would be okay. He'd keep Carol around cause someone had to do all the grunt work and look after Sophia. Clara should be grateful that he'd allowed her to live in the first place he could have easily made Carol have an abortion and that failing he could have rolled her ass down the stairs but he wasn't some sick son of a bitch. He'd make her earn her place back...on her knees...ant his feet where she belonged. Hell he was getting hard just thinking about it. "Why don't you come over her and show your daddy how sorry you are." He said rubbing his cock through his pants.

"Not really into pencil dick sandwich." Daryl said leaning against the archway between the alcove and the living room.

Ed quickly jumped to his feet his face visibly paling when he saw Daryl. It was the last thing he'd expected Clara always came crawling back. "This is breaking and entering. I could have you arrested."

Daryl gave him a bored look and held up Clara's key ring. "Entering maybe there was no breaking about it. We both know that you don't want to bring the cops in on this. Cause I got a girl who's barely a hundred pound soakin' wet back at my house that's been beaten to a bloody pulp. For some reason I just don't think that it would settle well with your cop buddies."

"You think they would believe me over you?" Ed scoffed.

"We could call them and see." Daryl shrugged.

Ed thought over what Daryl was saying he knew that the man was right. "So the little bitch went crawling to you did she? Bet she made up all kinds of stories too bout how I made her do things." He said. "Truth is I didn't have to make her do anything...she wanted it."

Daryl's vision went red and he white knuckle fisted his hands. "Be smart for you to shut the fuck up now." He growled.

"Can't handle the truth Dixon?" He jeered. "You know who she learned how to use that pretty little mouth on? It was me."

Daryl crossed the room in three long strides. Ed might have had size in him but Daryl had him on sheer strength and speed. When he closed in on Ed the bastard swung his fist at him but Daryl ducked out of the way and used all of his force to knock the man backwards and crash through the coffee table and onto the floor. The hard fall was enough to stun Ed. Daryl came over top of him and pounded his fists into the man's face over and over. Finally when he felt like he'd had enough he pulled back enough to pull the bowie knife he always carried from his belt. "Look at me you sick sack of shit." He growled at Ed. Ed's eyes lolled a little before coming to rest on Daryl's face. "Take a good look at this knife. See how sharp it is?" He asked but didn't wait for the man to respond. "You need to have a healthy fear of it. Clara is mine!" He growled. "Next time you so much as think of her, I'll know. And it's gonna pay you a visit. When that happens I'll gladly make you a eunuch before slitting you from navel to chin. You understand me Ed?"

Ed nodded his head, "Yyyyes." His voice quivered from fear.

"Good glad we had a chance to discuss this like two reasonable adults." Daryl put the knife away. "If I ever her about you been' mean to that little girl or her mama well have this discussion again."

With that Daryl stood up and walked out of the house.

* * *

When Marissa pulled up in front of the hospital she knew that she was going to have a hell of a fight on her hands. While shed always thought of Carol Peletier as her second mother growing up there were just something's you couldn't over look and this was a huge red button issue. Taking a deep breath she made her way into the hospital. She frowned when she saw the number of patients in the waiting room wearing masks but quickly dismissed it. After all since the Swine Flu epidemic the previous fall it had been the hospitals policy to have those patients coming in with flu like symptoms wear them. Pushing all of that from her mind she made her way to the elevator and pushed the number four. Once shed made it to her destination she went down a labyrinth of hallways before finding the open space full of cubical where Carol worked at.

Carol was surprised when she saw Marissa standing at the end of her desk. "Well Marissa this is a nice surprise. Are you shadowing Dr. Turner again?"

Marissa shook her head. "No I decided to actually enjoy my summer this year." She cleared her throat and then said. "I need to talk to you about something."

Carol frowned. "Everything is okay isn't it? Ed or the girls they're not hurt are they?"

The expression on her face was grim. "We should probably go to the lounge and talk."

"Was here and accident?" She asked as she followed Marissa down the hall.

Marissa didn't say anything until they were in the room with the door shut. To be honest she really wasn't sure if she was the right person to even be doing this. "Sophia is fine and so is Ed as far as I know."

Carol lifted her hand to her mouth her bottom lip trembling. "And Clara?"

"Carol, Clara has been seeing Daryl Dixon. He's one-"

"He's one of the men working on Mrs. O'Neil's house." Carol finished for her. "Was it him did he hurt her?" She asked her voice full of venom.

"No, Mrs. Peletier, Mr. Peletier saw them. Well he wasn't happy about it, when he confronted her things escalated." She explained she was afraid to say too much. She didn't want to tell her any more than was necessary without Clara's go ahead.

"What do you mean it escalated?" Carol asked. "Ed can be a mean son of a bitch but he's never hurt the girls."

Marissa silently counted to ten before trying again. "She's covered in bruises. You should see her ribs where he kicked her. She's afraid that if you go home he's gonna come after you."

"That's insane." Carol tried to scoff; truth was she knew everyone knew how Ed was it just for some reason didn't bode well from this twenty-one year old child who had no idea how the world worked. "Where is Sophia?"

"With Clara at Daryl's she's safe being looked after." Marissa assured her.

Carol paled at the idea, "That won't sit well with Ed. He'll be angry."

"Clara wanted me to tell you to go to Karen's for the night. Give him time to cool down."

Carol shook her head. "That will only make it worse. I have to face him; I need you to take Sophia to Karen though. Ed can't know that she's been at Daryl's he won't like it."

"Please, Mrs. Peletier don't go back there." Marissa pleaded.

"I know how to handle my husband." She patted Marissa's arm before walking out of the lounge.

* * *

Clara wasn't exactly sure how long she'd slept; it was dark out when she came awake and she felt like she'd been hit by a truck. She set up and let her feet dangle over the edge of the bed before she slowly pushed herself up and walked stiff legged into the living room. All of the lights were off the only thing lighting the small room was the soft glow of the TV. Merle was sitting on the couch and Sophia was beside of him her head propped on his shoulder, at some point she'd fallen asleep while watching TV. Clara still wasn't sure what to make out of the pair, or the fact that Merle seemed to be right at home looking after her sister. "You shouldn't be up, Daryl'll shit kittens." Merle scolded her as he moved Sophia off of his shoulder and stood up to help Clara.

"I'm okay…I need to be up." She said.

"Yeah well you can be up in the chair." He said helping her sit down.

After easing herself into the chair she looked over at her sister. "How is she doing?"

"She's a tough kid." Merle shrugged covering Sophia up with a worn quilt before sitting back down.

"How are you doin'?" he asked.

"Live and kickin'." Clara said. "Where's Daryl?"

Merle raised an eyebrow, "You really need me to answer that?"

Clara shook her head and looked at the TV. Deep down she knew where Daryl had gone, she couldn't explain the mixed feelings she had about it though. Maybe it was because she knew what a bastard Ed could be, she knew about his drinking buddies that happened to be local PD. She was half scared he'd get himself arrested. "No I guess not."

"You ain't got nothin' to worry about, Daryl can handle himself." Merle said.

"It's not that." She said then frowned when she saw the words scrolling across the bottom of the news report that Merle had been watching. "You mind turning this up."

Merle shrugged and used the remote to turn up the TV. "_-doctors in Indian had believed that they'd managed to contain the virus but new sources say that there have been cases in Florida, South Carolina, Montana, Nebraska, and New York. While nobody has died from it, the conditions of the patients have yet to recover. The CDC in Atlanta is working on it but they have yet to release a statement."_

"There were only three victims this morning." Clara said with a frown.

Merle muted the TV. "You got more important things to worry your head about, like getting better. That ain't nothin' to worry about, just the media trying to scare people into buying organic and givin' up sugar. They do it all the time."

Clara nodded in agreement but couldn't quite shake the feeling that settled in the pit of her belly.


	16. Chapter 16: The End of the Night

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it. **To Leyshla Gisel and FanFicGirl10:** Both of you brought up point asking if I was taking this story into the zombie apocalypse and how that would work considering I have Kindred Spirits which takes place during the ZA. Because this story starts before the ZA it changes everything because of cause and reaction. In Kindred Spirits Clara and Daryl met after everything had occurred and didn't get together until months after words. The idea behind this story is fueled by 'what if' because things begin differently it means it changes everything. Which means that even though this story will also eventually be in the ZA, it will in fact be completely different. As for me writing a sequel we're only on chapter 16 and to be honest the story has just began really. I never plan out how many chapters is going to be in a story. Anytime I set down to write it is to see where the story will go. I'll write it until I feel like it comes to an end and then when the time comes we'll see. **To BeingLolaStar: **I am so sorry about the rat reference and never ever meant in a million years to offend you. I know many people who have rats as pets and I think it's awesome. For that matter I think that the animals themselves are adorable, when I made the rat reference I meant it in a completely stereo typical Wormtail kinda way and hope that you and your boys can forgive me. In the future I will only use that reference in referral to Merle. As to your comment about Ed drinking himself to death, turning and eating Carol, while I agree that's a hell of a scary thought at the same time I laughed out loud at it too. I agree that her relationship with Ed is completely sick and at times makes me cringe just to write. To be honest I'll be glad when I can off the scummy bastard. And you know…I can say with complete confidence that this won't be the last time he gets his ass kicked so maybe the next time you'll be able to enjoy it. **To Micaela Beth Winchester:** You gotta take into consideration the years of physical and psychological abuse Carol has dealt with. It's been ingrained her that everything is her fault and that when something upsets Ed be it what happened with Clara or someone smudged his shoes that it's her place to make it better no matter how insane it is. **To Rea Josette:** Well you know me I'm all about the crazy. **To DarylDixonsWife: **Your review has given me all kinds of warm fuzzies to the point that my cup runith over with nicely toasted fuzzies. I agree about Merle I think he's a guy who's done bad things because he's never been given the opportunity to be good and I really hate it when writers do the whole Merle attacking Daryl's significant other for no other reason than because he wants Daryl's attention all to himself. I don't see Merle being like that at all, giving his brother shit about being all lovey and monogamous is a whole other story. **To Dino-SOAR, piratejessieswaby, Edy12345, LITTLE RED FOXX, Dalonega Noquisi, bashfyl, Alina Maxwell, and loveorpain: **Thank you so much for your reviews.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

* * *

**Chapter 16: The End of the Night**

It was past dark when Marissa made it back to the Dixon residence. Her heart was heavy as she made her way up the walk and knocked lightly on the door. She didn't want to be the one to tell her best friend, the person who'd ever been the closest thing to a sister shed ever had that her mother was a suicidal masochist who refused to listen to reason. After everything that Clara had been through the past day, deep down she wanted to lie to her but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She didn't say anything when Merle opened the door. "Look like you could use a drink Red." He said letting her into the house.

"That would be welcomed but it's gonna have to wait a while." She said.

Merle nodded at her, "Say the word and I will accompany you to getting shit face drunk darlin. Take it as things didn't go well with the mom?"

"Define well." She said. "She's in denial hardcore there was no reasoning with her. She wants me to take Sophia to Karen's she afraid of what Ed will do if he found out she's been here."

"But you couldn't convince her to go." Merle shook his head. "I'll never fucking understand that shit."

Marissa could tell that what was going on with Clara and even Carol was affecting Merle on a personal level. It was something that she couldn't wrap her mind around but she decided pushing wasn't the way to go about things either. "So where is Daryl at?"

"Taking care of some garbage," He said simply. "The Speck is conked out on the couch. I don't see the harm in letting her finish out the night here."

Marissa nodded. "I'll call Karen and let her know."

Merle nodded, he knew that Marissa was taking this as a complete failure on her part. "Look this ain't on you. You did what you could. Cain't nobody make someone do somthin' they won't want if their mind is made up. This Carol she's been livin' with that kinda abuse bullshit for a long time. After a while they start to believe the bullshit. Hell even the ones that get away a lot of them go back because they dont know how to handle living without that kinda authority breathing down their necks. It's a hell of a cycle."

Marissa wouldn't have been more surprised if Mere would have slapped her across the face and called her Sampson. "So where did you get your degree Dr. Dixon?" She teases.

Merle's face turned a little red. "Ain't nothin' like that. Spent some time in Juvi, some in the state pen. Ain't nothin' to do except serve your time. They had a pretty good library and all."

Marissa could tell that he was embarrassed by this admition. "Merle Dixon likes to read." She smiled. "It's kinda sexy."

Merle was pretty sure that it had been his hopeful ear that had heard what she'd just said. After all she was young enough that she could pass for his daughter. Hell he'd probably drunk whiskey older than she was. Not to mention the fact that she was beautiful with her long coppery red hair and bright green eyes and those freckles that he'd been spending the past twelve hours wondering if they covered all of her body. Nah she couldn't possibly have been flirting with him. Before he even had a chance to even consider flirting back and by flirting he really meant saying something a lot on the skeezy side the door pushed opened and Daryl came inside. He seemed calmer than he had in the past few hours the fact that his knuckles were bleeding gave Merle all the knowledge he needed. Daryl had done what needed to be done. "You find him?" he asked.

Daryl nodded, "How's Clara?"

"She got up for a while," Merle said.

"And her mom?" he asked.

Marissa shook her head, "I couldn't get her to see reason." She went on to give him the details of the conversation she'd had with Carol. How the older woman felt the need to go back and 'make things better' with her husband.

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl growled as he kicked the floor lamp knocking it onto the floor and busting the bulb. "Well she's in for a hell of a surprise when she gets home."

Marissa glared a Daryl, "That's all you have to say?" she asked.

"Exactly what the fuck do you want me to say? You did what she could, you gave her an out. If she goes back that's on her." He said.

"I don't like this." She said her arms crossing under her breasts. "That's Clara's mother, she's walking into an ambush."

Merle smirked, "Nah if I know my baby brother he's not gonna be in any condition to do anything to her tonight."

"I'm gonna," he nodded towards the bedroom door.

Marissa nodded, "I should probably head out too. I'll be back in the morning to get Sophia and take her to Karen's."

Merle stuffed his hands in his pockets, "It's late why don't you just crash here?" he asked. "Help me look after the Speck. We could you know…break out that bottle."

Marissa smiled a little, "Alright."

As Daryl walked towards his bedroom he shook his head trying to wrap his mind around his older asshole of a brother and Clara's best friend. He had no idea what was going on there but it was definitely unusual as fuck.

* * *

AN: I know this chapter was extreamlly short but I plan on making it up to you all with the next one. I just wanted to kinda get things wrapped up on this day so we could move on to more important things.


	17. Chapter 17: Conversations

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note: **Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Conversations**

The next few days where sheer hell for Clara. She'd never been one to lay around in bed all day and the fact that she didn't have much of a choice made matters worse. She had no idea what was going to happen. She'd never forget the call she had gotten from her mother the morning after everything went down. Apparently there was a robbery in process when Ed got home from work. He caught three armed assailants in the act and the beat the hell out of him before taking off. While they hadn't managed to take anything they had done around three thousand dollars in damage as well as breaking Ed's cheek bone, his nose, and ruptured one of his eyes. Carol had barely convinced him to go to the hospital and they along with Sophia were staying in a hotel until the locks could be changed and an alarm system had been put in. Though she was worried about her mother and sister, Clara couldn't help but be a little amused that Ed had lied and said it was three men who'd done the damage to him. Three men...or one Dixon, it did beg the question of exactly what kinda condition he would have been in had it been both Dixons he'd dealt with. Hell if that would have been the case he probably would have said that the entire starting lineup of the Atlanta Falcons had broken into his house and laid waste to him when he came in and caught them. Another thing she worried about is what would happen if they happened to run into Ed while they were working on Mrs. O'Neil's house. They were close to having the place finished; she didn't want them to have to leave the job partially done because of her. She already felt indebted to Daryl on leaves that she knew she would never be able to repay. She also knew that this much drama at the beginning of a relationship, did not a stable relationship make. While Daryl had never come out and said something along the lines of 'well gerl it's been great but it's time for you to move on' she didn't want things to come to that point. If that ever was to happen she didn't know what she would do and it wasn't just because she didn't have a place to go. Marissa and her mother had offered her their guest room as had her Aunt Karen. There was also that road trip that Sadie, Whitie, and Kevin were taking. The truth was shed grown very attached to the Dixon men, even Merle with his blunt but honest and sometimes a little crude truth. For once in her life, Clara just wanted to be exactly where she was.

Marissa walked into Daryl's house using the key he'd given her. She knew that it wasn't easy for the man after all the more time she spent around the Dixons she was able to pick up on things, one of them being that they didn't trust easy. They were often cold and aloof when they first met people she knew that deep down they had their reasons for it. While they'd never come out and said it, she knew that both of the brothers had gone through their own share of abuse. Maybe it was one of the reasons they were so protective of Clara and Sophia. Either way she was glad that her best friend had them in her corner. She could honestly say that since she'd met Merle and Daryl Dixon her life had become a hell of a lot more interesting. "Clara your skinny ass better not be in that bed." She called. "I have donuts and coffee."

"I'm up." Clara said walking into the living room. "Daryl send you to baby sit me again?" she teased.

"As if Daryl would have to bribe me to spend time with my best friend," she said handing Clara the drink holder. "Iced caramel macchiato with cinnamon just the way you like it."

Clara smiled as set the cup holder on the coffee table before opening her straw and sticking it in the lid. She took a long drink and moaned softly. "This is amazing. The only kinda coffee Daryl makes is black and Irish. It's usually so strong a spoon can stand up in it."

Marissa smiled as she opened the box of donuts shed brought and pulled out a jelly one and took a bite. "Well what did you expect vanilla extract and whipped cream?" She asked. Of course because her mouth was full it sounded completely different. If it hadn't been for the fact that Clara had been translating Marissaese for years she probably wouldn't have understood what she was saying.

"Look at those classy manners." she teased. "I think you have been spending way too much time with Merle. He's a bad influence...what would your mama say?"

"That he's a greasy redneck with a narcotic problem who's old enough to be my daddy." Marissa took a drink of her coffee.

Clara frowned. "What did you say?"

"That generally speaking he's the furthest away from 'my type' than I could possibly imagine. He's crude, occasionally belligerent, narrow minded, a racist bigot, and at times he can be downright disgusting." Marissa said.

Clara knew that there was more to what her friend was thinking. "But..."

Marissa sighed, "But there are times when he can be downright charming. He's protective; he's damn smart when he wants to be. He doesn't take shit from anyone, he seems like he's the loyal type you know."

"Do you have feelings for him," she asked.

"No!" Marissa said a little too quickly. "Okay maybe a little like a tablespoon."

"Just a table spoon?" Clara raised an eyebrow at her.

"Okay maybe more than a tablespoon maybe like on a general basis a fourth of a cup." She said then caved a little more. "Until I see him with Sophia and it's like a cup and a half of feelings."

Clara couldn't help but smile. "It is really sweet."

"It sucks though." She said. "It's not like anything can happen."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on Clara, he's not Daryl. Daryl is the kinda guy that might not know that he wants to settle down and have a family but when it happens he'll accept it without hesitation. I mean that is what happened with you and him. He might not realize it yet but he's head over heels for you. Now Merle he's a wildcard, you dont know what you'll get with him. He has no desire to settle down ever. He's a wild animal and you can't house train a wild animal."

"When did you turn idiot?" Clara asked.

"Huh?" Marissa asked surprised.

"Daryl and Merle are more alike than you think. The difference is that Merle is more boisterous than Daryl it's his defense mechanism like getting all quiet and then having that explosive temper is Daryl's. They've both been treated like shit so long that neither one of them knows how to be happy. I think that they believe that they shouldn't be allowed to be happy. I think if you let Merle Dixon get away from you that you're an idiot."

Marissa gave Clara a hard look, "I'm not an idiot."

"Then prove it." Clara gave her a mischievous smile.

* * *

"So what's the deal with you and Red?" Daryl asked as he and Merle set on the tailgate of his truck with a sack of fast food between them.

Merle raised an eyebrow at his brother, "Since when do we gossip like little girls? Didn't I raise you better than that boy?"

"You didn't raise me at all asshole you were too busy in Juvi." Daryl pointed out.

"We back to this again?" Merle asked.

"I don't think really think we ever get away from it." Daryl said.

"Yeah well I'm not gonna sit around chatting with you like a bunch of old hens. You wanna do that I'm sure Old Lady O'Neil will have no problems letting you into her sewing circle." Merle said standing up.

"So you do like her, that's what I was trying to figure out." Daryl said.

"I didn't say that." Merle growled at his brother.

"You didn't have to." Daryl grinned. It was rare that he could give his brother shit like this and he planned on making damn good use of it too.

"I damn well didn't say it so you take it back!" Merle snapped.

"You're not going queer are you?" Daryl asked.

Merle's face…in fact his whole head turned red. "I'm not a fuckin' queer and you damn well know it. I sure as shit have more conquests under my belt than you do."

"I'm gonna have to say that if you don't nail Red before we're done with this job that you're batting for the other team." Daryl grinned as he lit a cigarette and walked away from his brother.


	18. Chapter 18: GoodBye to Everything I Knew

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Walking Dead, sometimes I take it out of the box and play with it for a little while, I do however own Clara Peletier, Terrance "Whitie" Mason, Kevin Archer, Sadie Carter, and Marissa Stephans.**

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story I'm glad you all are enjoying it. Just wanted to say that I'm happy you all approve of the Marissa/Merle pairing. **To Leyshla Gisel:** Well yeah don't all Dixons have the power of three men? I thought that was a given. **To Dalonega Noquisi:** The Marissa measuring system is actually the Sar measuring system. It's the second time I've actually used it in one of my fanfics. At the end of Kindred Spirits Clara told Daryl she was half a cup of scared. It's something that my friends and I have made jokes about for years and I'm not exactly sure how it even began. **To FanFicGirl10:** I feel the need to defend Carol a little. Yes she's stupid but if you think about it she's been knocked around and pretty much told that she's worthless for a really long time. You hear it long enough and you get hit long enough you start to believe it. It's a type of negative reinforcement, it's a learned behavior there are certain things that she knows if she does them then it's going to cause pain. So you start adapting for that, it's really quite sick but I can't help but feel sorry for her. **To my Guest Reviewer:** I'm not sure if I'll do a complete story for Merle and Marissa but there will definitely be a lot of Merle and Marissa to come in this story. **To KatherineGrace79: **Now you have me curious about this poncho dance…are we talking naked poncho dance….cause that would be amusing as shit… To .Devil and Faith Slays: I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to update. I've been super busy and a little blocked but all is good now. **To piratejessieswaby, BeingLolaStar, Rea Josette, DarylDixonsWife, Micaela Beth Winchester, bashfyl, Goldenfightergirl:** I agree and see it as being a rare thing for Daryl to be able to throw Merle's shit back in his face but when it happens it is just sooooo good. I'm glad that you all are enjoying it.

**WARNING: This story deals with Domestic Abuse on wide spectrum including psychical, emotional, and sexual. I don't mean to offend anyone so if it's something that you're not able to handle please read no further.**

* * *

**Chapter 18: Good-bye to Everything I Knew**

Clara couldn't help but feel a little unsure when she and Marissa pulled up in front of her family's house. Carol had gotten the message to Marissa that a lock smith would be out later that day to change the locks on the doors. It was the only chance that Clara was going to get to pack her things without having Ed breathing down her neck. That uneasy feeling died down some when she saw Daryl waiting on the front porch for her. "You sure you're up for this sweetheart?" he asked as she climbed out of the car.

Clara nodded, "It's now or never, besides you only have so many flannel shirts." She pointed out.

Daryl grinned, "I like how they look on you."

"Still, I need my things." She said.

"Do you have this?" Marissa asked.

Daryl nodded, "Merle's around here somewhere." He said causally.

Marissa narrowed her eyes, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Daryl held his hands up, "No idea, is it supposed to mean somethin'?"

Clara bit back a smile, "Come on we need to get this done before the locksmith gets here."

Daryl watched her as she made her way into the house. The place looked somewhat better than it had the night he'd paid his visit to Ed, but not much. No doubt Carol wasn't allowed anywhere near the place until after the locks had been changed and Ed was sure that Daryl or Merle no longer had access to the house. He knew that being there had to be almost impossible for Clara, after all the last time she'd been in the house what almost happened to her was probably the worst thing that could ever happen to a woman. "I'm right here with you." He said running his hand down her arm.

Clara nodded as she looked up at Daryl, "I know." With that she started up the stairs towards her room. Everything had been just the way it was left almost a week and a half before. Her white ballet flats were haphazardly on the floor about three feet from each other. There were still shards of her broken guitar lying all about the floor and over her bed. The formerly wet towel from where she'd showered was lying there too and lying over the end of the bed had been the flannel shirt she'd borrowed from Daryl that morning. She closed her eyes and took a breath trying to keep what had happened from replaying in her mind for the millionth time since she and Daryl had come into the house.

Daryl frowned as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay, Clara…he ain't here."

When Daryl came up behind Clara's first instinct had been to elbow the shit out of him but when she heard his soft voice in her ear she was able to relax. "I'm okay…this time I mean it." She said opening her eyes and looking up at him.

He nodded, "Good, now let's get this done and get the hell out of here." He said.

* * *

Marissa told herself, as she walked around the side of Mrs. O'Neil's house that she wasn't looking for Merle. There would be no reason for her to look for him, after all it's not like they had all that much in common. He was a disgusting greasy redneck and she didn't find him remotely attractive at all. Besides for all she knew he could potentially be her father, he was in the right age bracket and it's not like that bastard ever had anything to do with her after her mother told him that she was pregnant. He just took off on his motorcycle to parts unknown. Of course that would totally have been something that she would have told her daughter if she had been in the situation that her mother had been in. Of course she didn't see Merle as the type of guy to let family go no matter how said family had come together. The problem was that thinking about Merle in a father role had her thinking back to the other night and the way he'd been with Sophia and that did nothing to sway her thoughts away from the fact that he was standing in front of her, his work jeans slung low on his hips weighed down by his tool belt. Or the fact that because of the heat that afternoon, he'd discarded his flannel shirt and was only wearing his wife beater. "What you doin' out here, Red?" he asked in his gruff voice.

"Waiting on Clara, Daryl's helping her pack up." She said leaning against the side their work truck.

Merle nodded, "She doin' alright?"

"Seems like it." Marissa shrugged.

Merle nodded and looked over to the Peletier house and then back to her, "Seems like a tough kid."

Marissa nodded, "Soumyouwannagotothemoviessom etimeorsomething?" she asked her words all running together.

He stared at her for a few seconds blinking, "The fuck did you just say to me?"

Marissa could feel the heat radiating from her face and knew that it had to match her hair. She took her time clearing her throat, she wanted give herself time to find her voice. "I said you wanna go to the movies or something." She shrugged trying to be nonchalant about it.

Merle nodded, "Yeah."


End file.
